The Law of Murphey
by Rei-Sanjo
Summary: 16 yr old Roy Mustang moves into a new home with his family, but something happens he doesn't expect. Someone else is living in the house! Why is Roy the only person who can see them? AU, RoyEd later on. Better than it sounds, New title! Rating will go up
1. The Introduction

_**PROLOGUE**_

**Chapter 1: Introduction**

Hi. My name is Roy Mustang, and Im 16 years old. My family just recently decided without telling me that we'd be moving.

Happy, right?

Wrong.

If you've ever moved before you know what Im talking about. You're parents say it'll be fun, you'll meet new people, oh the joys.

But then again, who doesn't love sitting in a car for 5 hours straight, with nothing to keep you sane but your parents saying over and over and over;

'This is going to be so exiting' and getting picked on repeatedly by your three annoying older brothers. You get to leave all your friends, all the people you've grown up with, your girlfriend, your kick-ass school, and the only house you've ever known. Oh but it gets better than that, the place we're going to looks like an old Victorian style-garbage dump. I couldn't believe my eyes when we got out of the car and my mother said 'Well, this is it.' And she said it with a smile on her face- She was smiling!

I always knew my parents were odd, but this was downright scary. Plus it was a half-hour drive just to see civilization, let alone your own neighbor. I always liked my space- but this was pushing it. I grew up in the city, and this was supposed to be fun? I missed everyone just looking at the house. It was an amazing four-stories high, including the attic. The paint was peeling off and the yard was barren and dry, it was nothing but dried up dirt, with some dead grass near the doorway. The door looked oak from where I was standing, you walked up the carpet-covered concrete steps with black wrought-iron fences leading up them. It looked like one of those mansions you see in horror movies, get the idea? The one that always randomly popped up with the lightning flashing behind it. Speaking of which, some was coming right now.

No matter what happened...

This was not good...

This was definitely not good.

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

Hows you like it? The P.O.V. is going to be different in the next chapter, read on and see whats happening!

Ill try and update every five reviews, sometimes before that. Review anyway!


	2. The Watch

**Chapter 2: The Watch**

Roy helped his parents take in all the boxes and trunks, trying not to get his hair totally soaked (It always got ruined when it was soaked). He finally rushed inside just as the rain started to pound harder. He sighed, it was damp. It was one of those days where even if you were dry, you felt wet and sticky. CONSTANTLY. Roy Mustang hated those kinds of days. He hated them with a passion.

He wandered around the new house a bit, it was almost completely made of wood (oak, he presumed again). There was a grand staircase that he didn't trust, it was damp and looked like it was rotting, so he decided to stay on the first floor. There was a giant green carpet layed over most of the floor at the bottom of the staircase, there was a kitchen, dining room, bathroom, living room, and just a few empty rooms with some old things left behind from the people who used to live there.

Roy decided to test his luck and slowly moved up the stairs, and he ended up on a platform-like structure, attached to the walls, you could see the downstairs in the middle. Like a box with a smaller square cut out of the bottom. He went in the closest door- on his right- and saw it was a bedroom. There was an empty rotting bookcase with a small box on it. Roy walked over to the box, which was full of books, mostly on 'Alchemy'.

Alchemy.

He'd heard of that before, hadn't he...Some strange ancient, science based practice to change impure substances to gold by giving tributes to spirits, or something along those lines...

He tossed the books back in the box, but something caught his eye. It was metallic, whatever it was, shiny and silver. He emptied the contents of the box onto the floor and a pocket watch fell out. It had some sort of dragon carved on the front, he opened it up- It still worked. Strange, it looked really old, he thought it would have stopped working long before now. It looked too old to belong to the family here before him, probably the family before, or even before that.

He took it and put it in his pocket, maybe he'd use it later. He stood up and observed the room, it looked like it hadn't been used by the last family either- More like a storage room. It was fairly large, it had a teal colored carpet, light blue walls. This would be his room. He turned around and screamed out the doorway;

"I call this room! You can't come in here!" He hated having to say that, he felt like a child. But he knew if he didn't, one of his barbaric brothers would come and kick him out, and he liked it for some reason. There was something about the room he just found comforting, secluded.

He went to go get his mattress from the moving truck, dragged it to his new room, and collapsed on it without anything else said.

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o**

The next morning Roy woke up and put the rest of his items in his room. He didn't own much;

His bedside table, with his portable radio on top of that, a few books he never read, alarm clock, a small TV, some Cd's, CD player, a pocketknife or two (or five...).

His mother had come up at some point during this and brought his bed-frame, and put all the sheets on already. He turned on the TV, flipping through the channels. Suddenly he stopped.

_What was that noise?_

He ignored whatever was making that (_kurchhhhhhhhh)_ noise, but it wouldn't go away. He shut the television off to see where it was coming from, and found it was his radio. He hated it when it picked up random signals, it was battery-operated, so it did that. He popped out the batteries, and to his amazement, and fear, the radio continued to fuzz. He turned the volume up and down, but it made no effect. Then there was a high-pitched squealing noise all of a sudden, just lasting for a moment, and then there was a voice. At first he couldn't make out what was being said, but it repeated, and then he heard it: It was not the voice of a radio anouncer, it was definately male. But he knew no more detail than that, a cold chill ran up his spine, and he finally heard the message the voice was saying;

_Roy Mustang._

This was not good.

This was definitely not good.

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

Grhrhrhrhr! Cliffhanger! Cuz Im mean. Don't worry, Ill be posting soon. Just as soon as I get home from blockbuster I think. Im on a writing frenzie tonight. Review and Ill update sooner! I live off of your reviews, they make me hyper inside. Just review!! What's happening? Is it a homunculus!? REVIEW!!!!!!!!


	3. The Boy

**Chapter 3: The Boy**

At first, all Roy could do was roll backwards and fall off his bed. He opened and closed his mouth for a long time and then finally screamed something like;

'Wattafuck!?'

'_Roy Mustang_' The voice repeated.

"Who are you?" Roy screamed, not to happy with himself for communicating with whatever had made contact with him.(Like he had a choice)

'_No, The question is: Who are _you_? Why have you come here?' _There was more static as the voice spoke.

If anyone in the world had ever come so close to the slang word 'SPazZ' it would be Roy right about now...

There was more static from the radio and the voice picked up.

'_Oi, Oi, No need to freak out...am I bothering you in this form?'_

"T-t-this _form!?_"

_'Geeze, fine, you could have said so earlier.' _And then the static, the voice, everything went silent. The radio shut down, and Roy was left sitting on the floor in a daze, wondering if that had just happened. He hoped it didn't.

"What're you (at this point Roy screamed) so worried about?" Came the same voice from the radio behind him. Even though it wasn't coming from the radio, it still had a fuzz to it.

Roy turned around and saw a blonde¹ boy standing directly behind him, but he was strange. He was...transparent. Roy's eyes bugged, there was no way this was happening...His first instinct was to run out the door, and as he tried to do so the boy was standing in front of him.  
"Calm down..." He said, with a bored tone. "Noone is going to believe you so why try? Right?"  
Roy nodded vigorously.  
"Um.." he said, not entirely sure what to say. "Why...Why me?" He asked with a hint of despairity.  
"Hm?" The ghost looked up. "You have my watch." He said with a goofy grin.

_So that's what it was._

Roy dug around in his pocket and handed him the watch.  
"Whats your name?" He said. "It's only fair, since you already know mine."  
The boy looked up from checking the pocketwatch over.  
"Edward Elric."  
"Er..Right." He said, Curious about everything having to do with this boy.  
"So...how..did you...? Uhh..." Roy had a serious case of Brain-Lag. He didn't know what he wanted to ask him, everything, pretty much.  
"Come up to the attic tomorrow, Ill explain everything." Edward said, and slowly disappeared.  
"Wait!" Roy called after him, "Why tomorrow? Come back!"

His house was haunted...  
This was not good.  
This was definitely not good.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x**  
How you like!? Sorry, it was SOO short. More is definately on the way. Actually, Im probably writing as you speak! We get to find out what happened to our poor Edo. I messed around with his past more than most, so expect the unexpected! and REVIEW!

1- Im bi-lingual, french and english, and I didn't know until yesterday that in english, you don't take the 'e' off of blonde when it's a boy, and I started cursing the english language and ranting about how 'blonde' sounded so girly for a boy. So to all those who have been reading my earlier fanfics, and I spelled it 'blond' for Edo-kun...im sorry, Im an idiot XD And I hate the english language.


	4. The Attic

**Chapter 4: The Attic**

"Roy, sweetie are you O.K.?" He heard his mother calling his name from the stairs, which he immediately rushed down.

"Mom, theres a ghost in my room." He blurted before he could stop himself.

_Shit._

"Wh-What?" She looked at him strangely.

"Honey, are you feeling alright?" She asked.

"Mom, no, Im serious, he was talking to me in the radio, and then I saw him! You have to believe me, mom..." But she didn't know what to make of it.

"Is this a joke?"

"_Mom_," Roy pleaded, "Why in Gods name would I lie to you. He talked to me, his name is Edward."

She blinked.

"_Urgh!_" Roy took off up the stairs, if he trusted the wood not to give out under his feet, he would have stomped, but he was smarter than that.

"Oooh, Roy has a ghost friend." Came his brother's voice.

_Oh great. This is just brilliant._

"Shut up, I saw him. I know I did."

"It looks like Roy found himself a boyfriend!" His brother continued.

"I said shut _up!"_ Roy shouted, punching him in the chest, and storming up the stairs, right through to the attic.

"Edward, come out. I can't wait until tomorrow, I need to talk to you _now._" He said with a bit of loudness to the nothing of the attic, as he stared at the contents of it.

There were a couple old trunks, a thick photo-album, an empty clothes-rack, a keyboard, a lamp, an old globe, and about twenty pounds of dust. Like most attics, it was dark, and had a single light-bulb hanging in the middle of the room. Plus the little bit of light coming from the triangular shaped window at the end of the room.

Roy walked over and yanked on the light-bulbs chain, and the light flickered on.

"Mmph..." There was a noise by Roy's feet, making him spring back a few inches.

Roy peered through the disturbed dust and saw a gold blob covered in old quilts and blankets.

Roy felt like sweat-dropping.

"What are you doing?" He asked, poking the mass of bed-spreads.

"_Trda see..." _Came the distorted, muffled answer. Roy pulled the blankets away from his face.

"Im trying to sleep!" He growled, turning over and curling into such a small ball, Roy had to look twice. He could make his knees touch the top of his head, and he folded his arms and hid them somewhere between his folded legs pressed up close to his body._That's not normal..._ Was the only thing that could run through his brain for a moment. He stared for another moment, and then snapped back to reality.

"Hey, you're a ghost, right? You don't need to sleep..." He poked him again, trying to get some response from the boy.

_Wait._

_Poked._

He was...solid? Now that he thought about it, the more he looked at the boy's face, he realized the transparency that had been there disappeared.

"Come on, get up, I have questions for you." Roy pulled the sheets down, making Ed uncurl. He blinked numerous times and realized what was happening.  
"Aw, Come. On! You're like my _Mother_!" He shouted.

"Why are you solid?" Roy asked, as soon as he was sure the boy left his comatose state.

"I thought I said come back tomorrow..."

"You're stubborn, aren't you?"

"No."

Roy sighed.

"You're being stubborn right now, by not agreeing."  
"No, Im not."²  
"Yes you- Argh. Answer me, Why are you solid?" Roy asked again.  
"It's a long story, give me a minute to recap." Edward said, shaking his head back and fourth like a dog, and then falling back on his bed again.¹  
"Well..." He started.

"I grew up in a small town called Risembool, I was born in the year 1899. I had a younger brother named Alphonse. But my mother was always sick. The doctors couldn't do much for her back then. I don't think they could do much about it now either, though. She cared about me and my brother more than anyone in the world. I'm sure of that. Our father was a bastard. He hated me more than anyone else. Im sure of that, too. He was always getting drunk, we were always in debt because of him. He cheated on my mother. But she refused to get a divorce, because he came home everyday. She would always forgive him, no matter what he did, and I couldn't stand it. He knew I hated him and he hated me just as much.

"I worked odd-jobs since I was 8 years old so I could pay for our moms medical bills when she got really bad. I remember one summer, I had three jobs at once, just so we could eat. I hated living like that, I hated my life, but I couldn't bring myself to commit suicide. I thought of my mother, of Alphonse. If I died, Alphonse would have to start working, and I could never deal with that. I worked twice as hard so that Alphonse could live the life of a child I would never have.

"When I was 9 years old, I started learning Alchemy, because I thought I might be able to cure my mom. Alchemy is the practice of giving something, and getting something of equal value in return. Understand? (Roy nodded) And every day I worked on the disease, and studied it, and the effects, and the precautions. But the more I learned about it, the more I realized what a terrible disease it was. I couldn't believe my mother went through that every single day. That just drove me even more- I would definately find a cure for my mother, and we'd live happily together. And I would get a good job, and Alphonse could get a job he wanted when he was old enough, and then we could divorce my father, and we'd be home free.

"But I couldn't do it. Because not only did I have to work two jobs, go to school, and cure my mother before she got too bad, my father started picking on me. He'd heard from somewhere that I was gay, and he ragged on me every day. He beat me, cursed at me, at what a disgrace to the family was, and he couldn't believe that I was his own flesh and blood. In fact, he started denying it. To him, I was more like a border, and he moved me from my room, which is yours now, up into the attic. God did I hate it up here. It was scorching in the summer, and I nearly froze to death in the winter. I never really made it look like a room, because to me it wasn't.

"Eventually, when I was that desperate, I joined the military at age 12. I became a state Alchemist, and that watch you found earlier proved that. I hated that watch and loved it at the same time. It represented everything I'd worked for. The date scratched on the inside is the day that I decided I would cure my mother. Before, it represented a symbol of hope, now it laughs in my face at my failure. Becuase as I got older, my father started coming down harder on me, and whenever I did something wrong (and he loved to tell me when I was wrong), I had to be 'taught a lesson' because im an 'Unappreciating little fag'. And I used to hit him for calling me little, and he would catch my hand and slam me into the iron staircase. I was knocked out, and Alphonse was outside playing. I never let Alphonse see when I was being beaten. So noone was ever there to help me if I needed it. I remember waking up once in a hospital, and someone telling me I'd split my head open on the wrought-iron staircase. I remember my father slamming me up against it when I told him he was worthless because I worked more than he did. But I said I just fell down the stairs. The last thing I wanted to do was bring more problems in the family, and my mother was too sick to have to go to court against my father. I couldn't imagine telling her it had been happening for so long anyway, I preferred to tell my mother I was happy, and I loved her everyday. And that everything was fine, and Alphonse was healthy, and nothing interesting ever happened.

"And then...When I was almost 14 years old, When I thought I might have finally had a break-through with my research on her disease after everything, my mother died. The thing I remember most about those two weeks, those two straight weeks, was that I sat in front of her grave without a thought, without a tear. I just sat there, and I didn't think. I just sat. It was so strange, it was like my subconsious mind, any thought paths at all were just being channeled right out of my head. I wasn't sad, I wasn't angry, I wasn't happy, I was just...there. Like an empty shell. It felt like that mechanism we all have, the one really deep down that says

_'This is sad. You need to cry now. You should be feeling bad.'_ Even those little things we don't care about that make us feel sad, like a girl's cat dying. You see her holding it, crying and that little mechanism goes;

_'You don't care about this, it has no effect on your life, but feel bad anyway. Cry like she's crying.'_

It felt like it broke. Like when I found out my mother died, that little mechanism just went (_twang)_ and there was so much sadness at once it just collapsed.³  
"And I wanted to feel bad for her, but I wouldn't cry. My brother would cry, and I would only let him at her grave for two hours a day because it made him feel so bad. But I couldn't cry, could feel no emotion. But then it came. Two weeks of sitting there, that little mechanism repaired itself, I thought I would die. I thought I would fall on the spot there was so much sadness. And after that I just...didn't care. Nothing made me sad anymore, because I realized that nothing could get any worse than this. Dying is better than this.

"Soon after that, my father found out I had joined the military. He took my watch from me and I had no idea where he hid it, he started beating me more than often. But I let him do it for some reason, it brought...comfort. And I hated it. I didn't want to be like that, I wanted to live like a normal teenager for once in my life. I knew it was possible, just not for me.

"My little brother saw my father abusing me one day. He told my father to stop, to stop! He was so angry that I hadn't told him, and so sad I was being hurt. And then my father turned on him. But I'd rather die than have my father hurt my little brother. Even one little smack- and so I did. I fought with my father like he was my worst enemy, we got into a fist fight, but I knew some moves from the military. But he was bigger. He was stronger. I told my brother to run, and so he did. My father and I fought and fought until It was physically impossible for me to stand up, but I did. I did it for my brother, because he was the only thing in the world important to me at the moment. Only thing I was living for, and I realized I'd die either way. I did.

"He slammed me against the iron bars again, he split my head open. And he turned around and punched me in the side of the head as hard as he could. But I didn't die instantly. Everything faded, and the last thing I remember thinking while I was alive was

'I can't die. I have to protect Alphonse until he's old enough to protect himself.'

"And then I woke up as a spirit. But between the time I died and the time I was awakened, I knew allot of things all of a sudden. Like this amount of knowledge was being stored in my brain, and all of a sudden I understood everything. I had to stay as a ghost until Alphonse could protect himself, which I did. But after that, my soul never went to rest for some reason. I think it's because once your a ghost you can't just disappear...you're stuck.When you touched me, It was like I became a person again. But only you can see or hear me. Im going to miss walking through walls." He sighed and stretched.

"Hm? Whazzamatta?" He looked at Roy, who looked like he had tears in his eyes.

"You went through all that...and you still act like nothing happened...it's so sad." He murmured.

Ed shrugged and yawned.

"I guess it's pretty sad, yeah. But it's different when you're dead."

Just then there was a knock on the trapdoor leading to the attic.

"Roy, dear what are you doing up there? You've been there all afternoon." He heard his mothers voice call.

"Oh man, How am I going to explain this!?" Roy whispered urgently to Ed.

The knock came again.

"Im coming up."

This was not good.

This was definitely not good.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

Zomg whats gunna happen? I love cliffhangers. Poor Ed :'( I cried making some of those parts.

I will update soon, so review and get my creative ability started.

Hear me?** REVIEW**!

1: Me on week-days XD

2: A trait of mine, being stubborn about not being stubborn xP


	5. The Walk

**Chapter 5: The Walk**

"Ed!" Roy said, loud enough to show the urgency, but quiet enough to keep his mom from hearing.

"Hi mom." Roy said with a smile as her head emerged from the trapdoor.

"What have you been doing up here?" She looked around the attic.

"Umm...I..." He needed an excuse. **Now**.

"I came to check out the attic." Ed said, sounding bored.

"I came to check out the attic." Roy said, saying the first thing he thought would get him out of this.

"Where did all these things come from?" She asked, gesturing to Ed's small inventory.

"I think it came from the last people who lived here, they just left it." Edward said. Again, Roy copied him.

"Oh. Well, Ill get your father or one of your brothers to come up and take it out later..." She said, shrugging.

"No!" Roy cursed himself silently for sounding so desperate. "Uh, I think we should leave it. There's some pretty cool stuff up here..."

His mother looked at him strangely. "Oh, Okay then. Get washed up and come down, we're about to have supper."

"'Kay."

His mother closed the door.

"Where do you get that stuff from? Right off the top of your head." Roy turned and looked at Ed, who shrugged.

"Im a master at these things. What do you think I did to keep my dad away from me?"

"Oh...right." Roy went down the trap door, and just as his head was about to disappear he asked;

"Can you come down to the first floor?"

Ed looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Why the hell would I do that? Am I your playmate now?"

"No, I just-"

"You don't have any friends do you?" Ed cut him off.

"At least Im taller than four feet at sixteen." He smirked and disappeared, ignoring the crashing and raving that followed.

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Roy was surprised to find that Edward Actually did come down while they ate, he leaned against the wall, observing.

"I heard Goth-boy has an imaginary friend..." His eldest brother snickered, nudging Roy in the ribs.

He hated it when he said that. It's not his fault he has black hair and dark eyes. It's not like he dyes it and wears contacts to look that way. It's not his fault he's the only one with black hair, he got it from his mother's dark hair. It's not his fault he likes black, in fact, he hardly ever wore black anyway.

"It's not an imaginary friend, Dumb-ass, it's a ghost." He pushed his brothers arm away from him.

"Boys, no name-calling." His father said.

"It?" Edward growled, smacking Roy in the back of the head.

"What the hell was that for?" Roy snapped at Ed as he turned around in his seat.

_Aw...shit._

It was silent, and then his brothers broke out into howling fits of laughter.

"Goth-boy's talkin' to spirits now!" One of them hollered.

Roy stood up from the table and grabbed Edward's braid, dragging him up the stairs by it. He didn't care how stupid he looked, he was too pissed at the moment.

He opened the trap door and threw Ed onto the pile of quilts.

"Why the hell did you have to do that!?" He screamed at him.

Ed sat up, rubbing the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"That hurts you know!" Was all he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"My whole family thinks im nuts now, are you happy!?" He continued to yell at the blonde.

"What happened to respect for the dead?" Ed snapped back just as quickly.

Thats right...

He was dead.

He was talking to a dead person.

"I really am insane..." He said, storming downstairs and out the door.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

Roy walked alongside the dirt road, cursing under his breath that he'd never even moved. He'd only been walking for a few minutes, but already the house was beginning to look small. The sun was about to go down, and there was nothing to look at. Dead trees, dry soil, and the dirt road. That was about it.

"Hey, Roy-" Roy screamed and jumped suddenly. "Im sorry for that thing at the dinner table, it was pretty stupid."

"It's ok," Roy said, seeming to regain some composure. "I knew a girl just like you at my old school. Almost exactly, I know it's not your fault. You're just short-tempered and don't think before you act." He said with a smile.

"Um...thanks, I think..." Ed said, not really sure about what to say to that.

"She was great," Roy continued. "Now that I think about it, she was exactly like you. She even wore her hair the same way, but it was a darker color. Brownish."

"And you put up with her, right?" Ed said, looking out to the east.

"Yeah. It was a pain sometimes, but overall she was a good kid."

"So...You can put up with me, right?" He asked, his voice sounding like he didn't mean to say it out loud.

Roy stopped walking, watching Ed go on ahead of him for a minute. Why would he say something like that?

"O-Of course I can..."

"Good..." Ed said, still staring off into the distance. The house slowly became smaller and smaller, and Roy wondered what Ed was thinking about.

They walked for a few more minutes before Roy spoke again.

"Ed?"

"Ah?"

"Are you okay? You're not walking straight..."

"Mm..." All of a sudden he made a choking sound and fell to his knees.

"Ed!?" Roy shouted, running over to him. Ed collapsed face-first onto the ground, and Roy rolled him over, panicking.

"Ed? Ed, talk!" He shouted, but there was no answer.

This was not good.

Definitely not good.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

What will Roys parents do? What happened to Ed? Will he be ok? REVIEW!! I have 9 reviews right now, and Im so happy, this fic is gunna be da BOMB. Now REVIEW! They make me warm and fuzzy and hyper inside.


	6. The Teacher

**Chapter 6: The Teacher**

Edward's eyes slowly opened, he was laying on something soft. It was different than the feeling of his quilts on the hardwood floor of his attic, it was a bed. He rolled over and blinked a few times to register what the black blob next to him was. Roy.

"Wha- Holy-!" He yelled, jumping as far away as he could without falling off of the bed. He looked around quickly, he knew those walls, that bookshelf. The room was light, it must be morning. He was in his room. Roy's room...whatever it is.  
"What happened?" He said loudly, feeling dizzy and not really sure what was happening.

Roy stood up.

"You collapsed, I was worried, I didn't want to ditch you in the attic..." He said.

"Hmph. Why the hell do you care, Mustang? Im dead remember, It's like Im not even here, I can't die again, baka. It's none of your business" Ed snapped.

Roy looked hurt for a flicker of a moment, then turned to Edward and said with a stern face;

"But you can disappear, can't you? You can't die again but you can go away, your spirit can leave, can't it? I read some of your notes, it has information on things like that."

Ed looked surprised, but it soon turned to anger.

"It's none of your business whats in my notes, so just lay off!" He glared at Roy for a minute.

"Do you know why you passed out?" Roy said all of a sudden.

"No." Ed lied quickly. There was no way Mustang was getting involved in all of this.

"You know more than you're letting on, I know you do. Just tell me."

"I have to go." Ed said, ignoring the question, and then walked out the door.

Roy growled. "Fine...be that way." He laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

There was a knock on the door.

"Son, are you in here?" His fathers voice came, and he walked in the room. Roy said nothing.

"I heard you talking just now." He said.

Roy remained silent.

"Were you talking to that ghost-boy?"

Roy blinked slowly.

"His name is Edward." Was all he said.

"Well you know, your mother and I were talking..."

Nothing ever good came from that. NOTHING.

"And we think you should consider seeing a therapist."

Ding Ding Ding.

"Get out." Roy said, with a sharp quiet-ness to his voice.

"Excuse me?"

"I said get out. You people are scared because you've never seen anything like this before. Wasn't in your parenting books, was it? Whats the first thing you do? You send me to see a therapist because you think Im loony as a toonie. You can't stand to see one of your sons different from the others, and you don't know how to deal with it. Now get out of my room." The low tone in his voice never wavered.

"Son-"

"Out." He cut him off, and his father did as he said.

Roy sat up and quietly beat his head off of his bed post.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

Roy finished supper, and there was no Ed to be seen. Actually, he hadn't seen him since that morning.

Roy climbed up the stairs to the attic, and just as he put his hand on the trapdoor, he heard Edward speaking. The trapdoor muffled most of it out, but he definately heard

"-give me more time, I can. I just-" But he stopped, like he was being cut off.

Roy knocked on the door, making Ed jump violently.

"Jesus Christ, what do you want now!?" He yelled, spinning around.

"Someone's in a good mood today." Roy said with a smirk. "Nothing in particular." He said, answering Ed's question. "I just havn't seen you all day."

"So?" Ed snapped back. Roy just shrugged.

"You can talk to me whenever you want." Roy said out of nowhere. "You know that, right?"

Ed blinked in surprise and looked away.

"Y-Yeah..." He mumbled.

"Ok." Roy shrugged again. "I just wanted you to know that."

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

**One Week Later**

Edward's appearance became less and less, but Roy insisted on going up to see him at least once a day. Sometimes he could hear Ed talking, but to who or what he didn't know. And to make things worse, It was Roy's first day of school.

The bus picked him up at 7:15, so (of course) He was up at 7:00. Strict schedule:

Shower, get dressed, food, hair, out the door. Back to the house, grabbed his backpack and then back to the bus-stop. He'd asked Ed if he'd come with him to school, but Ed just flat out said 'No' and when asked why, he just gave a string of random excuses. Roy was beginning to get worried.

But he was even more worried about how long this busride was. An hour long. He had to get in a bus for an HOUR everyday just to get to his school. Something was wrong here...

When he got to school the first bell rang just as he got off the bus.

Now he had to find his classroom in five minutes.

Five? Try fifteen.

He knocked on the door and walked in.

A tall (I mean **_TALL_**) man with a beard sat at the desk. Mr. Bennet, he thought his name was.

"Roy Mustang?" He asked, Roy nodded.

"You're late." He said with a loud, booming voice that filled the classroom.

"Well, It's my first day here-" He started.

"Well considering I've never seen you in my classroom before, thats a bit of a stupid comment." The teacher cut him off.

Roy cleared his throat.

"Excuse me. It's my first day here, so I didn't know where the classroom was." He finished.

"You should have been trying harder. There is an office, you know."

"How am I supposed to know where the office is?" Roy said quickly.

"They're always by the door, duh."

_No way his teacher just 'duh'-ed him. No fucking way._

Roy narrowed his eyes.

"Well I would, but there are about five doors!" He said, getting agitated.

"Don't you give me attitude, boy." Mr. Bennet stood up, towering an amazing 6' 2'' over Roy.

Roy forced himself to calm down.

"Im sorry, but there were too many doors. I didn't know, considering this is my first day."

"You should have tried all of them, then. Sit down." Mr. Bennet's voice boomed.

Roy looked at him like he was crazy (which he probably was).

"By the time I checked all the doors, I'd be just as late as I-"

"Sit. Down." Mr. Bennet raised his voice, if that were possible.

Roy could do nothing but do as he was told. He took an empty desk near the back of the classroom.

There was no way he was putting up with this.

This was not good.

This was definitely not good.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

If any of you are wondering where Mr. Bennet or the random and craziness is from, he's a teacher at my school. That's really what he's like, and he's really done that before. He told one of my friends off for smiling too much, I swear on Edo-kun himself. He's so frustrating, I swear one of these days im gunna turn around and kick him in the face. (If I could reach...actually Im about the same height as Ed is...So I doubt that would work out. AH! I'VE SPOKEN TOO MUCH! Youll never find out how old I am now! Because Im NOT SHORT!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Just slightly insane O.o. REVIEW. I had happy tears this morning because I got 19 reviews. Whats going on with Ed, and why won't he tell Roy whats going on? He knows more than he's letting on, but what exactly does he know? TUNE IN NEXT WEEK AND FIND OUT!

(Im sorry, Im batman fan, honestly...)


	7. The Enemy

**Chapter 7: The Enemy**

That was the longest day Roy Mustang had ever gone through in his entire life, and better yet; He got to got to go back the next day, and the next day, and the day after that...

Roy walked out the front doors and gladly beat his head off of them until he felt dizzy, and then hopped up onto the bus. Thanks to someone (Mr. Bennet, he assumed) someone had got the brilliant idea of calling him and Emo. Whatever the hell that was, like he cared. But apparently, the rest of the student body did. That was the only word he could hear throughout the whole bus

_Emo. Emo. Emo. Emo. Emo. Emo. _

Over and over again and again. He didn't even know what an Emo was.

Finally, some smart-assed little shit decided he'd say it out loud.

"Hey, kid, are you an Emo?"

"No..." He said, sitting down.

"Yeah you are."  
"I just said I wasn't."

"Do you slit your wrists?" He persisted.

"Hey, screw off, I don't even know what an Emo is, how can I be one?"  
"Do you slit your wrists?" He asked again.

"No."

"Yeah you do." The kid said.

"If you're going to say that, why did you ask me in the first place?" Roy growled.

"Because you're an Emo."  
"What the fuck!" He yelled, startling a couple girls behind him.

The conversation went on until Roy started ignoring them, and they just sat there and said to him, repeatedly;

"Emo, Hey, Hey Emo! Emo, listen to me, you're an Emo, right? Hey Emo, stop going Emo im talking to you. EmoEmoEmoEmo"

_Don't punch him in the face, Roy. Don't. It's important that you keep your behaviour up on the first day of school. Don't punch his lights out. Don't do it._

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

"How was your first day of school?" His mother asked him the second he got in the door.

"Good." Roy said dismally.

"Do you like your new school?" She asked, but he ignored her question.

"Im going to the attic." He took off up the stairs before she could ask any more questions.

Roy stood outside the trapdoor.

"-Leave him out of it! You can't lay a hand on him, I swear on it, I'll rip you limb from limb-"

Came Edward's voice, but it was cut off by a second. Roy finally heard the second voice, it was slick, smooth. It sounded menacing, and full of malice.

But all he could hear was;

"-So watch it, or you know what'll happen."

That's it, he was going up there and talking to him about this.

He opened the trapdoor, and- like always- Ed jumped, and there was no sign of anyone else.

Roy eyed the triangular shaped window, wondering if anyone could sneak out it if they had to.

"What?" Was all Edward said.

"I heard you talking to someone." He said, cutting straight to the point.  
"You're insane." Ed said casually, trying to neatly avoid everything. But Edward Elric was never neat.

"Who have you been talking to? I've heard you more than once, you can't hide it. Tell me." Roy took a few steps forward.

Ed refused to reply, and began to step away. Roy grabbed his shoulder, but Ed moved his head to the side, glaring at nothing.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He said angrily, avoiding eye-contact. Roy took Ed's chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned his head to look at him. To look into his eyes.  
"You're lying." He said. "I know you are."

Ed pushed him away.  
"Back off..." He mumbled, looking embarrased.

"I can't tell you." Edward said, turning his back.

Roy growled.

"Quit playing games with me! You can tell me anything..." He took a step foward again.

Edward took a look around quickly, his eyes were narrowed. He watched a shadowed corner, motioning for Roy to come closer.

He stared at the corner for a few moments, and, deciding everything was O.K., began to talk in a low whisper.

"Im sorry. I can't tell you, it's too dangerous. If I tell you...you could get hurt..." He looked at the floor. Roy put a hand on his shoulder.

"This is important, you have to tell me. Nothing will happen..." He spoke in barely a whisper.

Ed clenched his fists, "That's just it." he said, so quiet Roy had to strain his ears to hear.

"Something _will_ happen. He can make things happen, If you stay out of it, you won't get hurt. He's too powerful, he's inhuman, you couldn't protect yourself if he tried to kill you, so he can't find out that you know anything about this." He spoke fast, his eyes darting around the room. Piercing yellow eyes that checked every corner, every shadow.

"Who? Who's 'he' ? I can help, I want to help you!" Roy spoke urgently.

"You can't, it's almost impossible-"

"Just tell me!"

"His name is-..." Ed stopped, his voice had a pain to it when it cut off. And then he make a sickly familiar choking sound, and fell forward.

Roy caught him, calling his name, but there was (again) no answer. He placed him down on the floor, ontop of his blankets, looking around the room.

_Why had he been searching like that? Was he worried whoever was doing this was here? If he was, why did he care? Or did this unknown person, this 'inhuman' enemy, have something to do with Ed's unconciousness? If so, that would explain why he was so frightened. But how (or why) did this 'he' have such power? Ed would never let somone grasp his weakness like this, and if they did, what blackmail did they have? Why would Edward be involved with someone this dangerous?_

Roy looked down at Edward, something was wrong. He dropped to his knees and touched Ed's arm. He was starting to...fade. That's the best way he could put it. It wasn't that noticeable, but it was like Ed was slowly turning back to the transparent being he was before. He had a certain...fuzziness to his outline. He was still solid (for the most part) but he was just...different.

He thought he heard a noise behind him.

"Whos there?" He said, spinning around, greeted by darkness. There was no reply.

There was another noise from the other side of the room, like the rustling of cloth.

"I know you're there!" He called, suddenly fearless, overcome by curiousity.  
"Come out!" He yelled.

There was a laughing, it was that same voice, full of malice and so sly at the same time.

"So..." It said. "Roy Mustang? I've heard alot about you...you must be O'chibi-san's friend."

This was not good...

This, by far, was **definitely** not good...

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

Zomg! Know who it is now? If you don't I pity you... Sorry, It's kinda short.

Im sorry if the Emo thing offended anyone, and I honestly don't know what it means. It's just the only thing I could think of because that's exactly what all the kids at school used to say to me, exactly like that, everyday on the bus. (Then they found out I was taking Combat Hapkido lessons...It's like karate, for those of you wondering WTF?)

It took me like fifteen minutes to write O'chibi-san, because I just wanna punch the first thing I come in contact with everytime he says that. I just hate it. Even though he is my favorite bad-guy. Oh well. Ill update, when you REVIEW!!! ahahahahahaha :3

**-o- Oh, and MeAndMyGodComplex...I love you . You've reviewed for like, every chapter so far. I'm reading your fanfic 'Genders are so Troublesome' and it is so awesome! If anyone's reading this, go check out that fic, because it totally rox my sox. It's addicting, ane it's great to have someone actually post a fic that has an original story plot. -x-**


	8. The Decision

**Chapter 8: The Decision**

"Listen up, Mustang." The voice said.

"Everything that boy's been telling you is a lie, he's evil, not me. He didn't want to tell you because he knew I'd tell you the truth."

"I don't believe you." Roy said instantly, talking to the darkness.

"Theres nothing I can do to make you believe me," The voice said back. "But my job is to control him before he gets too far. He's more powerful than he's letting on, making it look like I have him in my control, when really it's starting to go opposite. I just wish I could have found you before he'd brought you to his side." Though the voice had no regret in it, Roy was starting to think. This person made more sense than Edward did, was what he was saying true?

"In fact, he's so powerful, that the leader's had to detach his soul from his body just so we could have some control on him. I've only been able to knock him out for a little while, but when he comes back, you can't tell him any of this happened. If you do he could destroy you on the spot, it's best if you don't get involved, tell him none of this happened, and let us get back to our jobs." After that, it was quiet.

"Us?" Roy called. "Theres more than one of you?"

But he got no reply. Just then, Edward stirred behind him.

Roy was confused, he had to choose. Who was he supposed to trust? Of course he should pick Ed, right? Ed was Ed...he...why did he trust him? What if the voice was right? His life was on this line, this was a hard choice to make.

_No._

_No it wasn't._

"Ed," He said, turning and sitting down beside him.

"Did he hurt you?" Was the first thing coming out of Ed's mouth.

Roy shook his head, and then commenced in explaining everything the voice had said to him.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

"That's a blatant lie! Every bit of it." Edward growled in anger, some few minutes after.

"I know it is..." Roy said. Edward looked up at him.

"You trust me because you've known me longer though, don't you?" He said, a dull hint to his voice.

Roy blinked.

"Of course not! I trust you because..." He trailed off, and sort of spaced out for a second.

"It...It dosn't really matter why I trust you, I just do." He said, standing up and turning towards the trap door.

"Yes, it does!" Ed foot-sweeped Roy, so he landed in front of him on the floor.

"There has to be a reason. There's a reason for everything." Ed said, a tone to his voice that said 'And-that's-final'.

Roy froze, not sure what he would say. He looked up at Ed, hoping he'd let him out of this. But he didn't.

"Well...Um I trust you because...because you trust me...I guess?"

Wrong.

Ed nicked Roy's shoulder with his black boot. "You're lying." He said plainly, apparently not amused.

Roy sat up and moved beside Ed, staring at the wall in front of him, and then at Ed.

Edward blinked.

"What? It's not that hard of a question." He said, confused.

_Yes it is..._ His brain screamed.

And then- Then!

Roy leaned over and kissed him.

Ed blinked a few times, registering what happened.

"Get off!" He said, pushing Roy away from him, his cheeks red.

"What do you think you're doing!?" He yelled. Roy could only stare in horror and happiness at what he'd just done.

"Get out!" Ed shouted, pointing at the trapdoor. He didn't know what else to do.

Roy took off down the stairs, down the third floor and into his room.

_What had he just done!?_

This was not good.

Or...was it?

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

Yes, yes, very short. But Hey, who ever said short was bad? This is a fic about Ed, remember?

Omg I just said that out loud. I hate myself v.v

And because it's so short, and Im so mean, Im going to make you squirm for the next hour. Exactly one hour from the time this was published(it's 4:00 right now, but thats like ACT or something..sooo...O.o), I will put the next chapter on. But only if I get a review! GRHRHRHRHRHR

Will Envy be showing up in the next chappy? Or maybe the one after that. And he said 'us'. Is he bringing backup? omfg READ! AND! REVIEW!


	9. The Plan

**Chapter 9: The Plan**

Roy stared at the ceiling, thinking. The ceiling seemed to be his comfort lately, since Edward wasn't around to talk to. He hadn't seen Ed in two days, this being his third. There hadn't been a peep from the attic ever since..._that_ happened. Even though it might not seem much, his daily trips to the attic had done a major number on helping his stress level...Now that his parents thought he was insane, his brothers and everyone at school picking on him, and that god-damned **teacher** breathing down his neck. His grades were going down, thanks to his 'Mis-behaviour in class'. Wasn't that illegal? He couldn't do anything about it, all the other teachers ignored Mr. Bennet, even after he'd called Roy a day-dreaming goth.

He couldn't do that!

He'd get back...don't you worry. After a while, someone would anonymously be keying his car, misplacing his paperwork, and re-arranging all his files.

Roy smirked just thinking about it.

But on a more serious note; _What was he going to do about Ed?  
_Roy was too full of pride to go up and apologize, or even talk about it. Then again, Ed was stubborn and would never come down here.

This put him in a situation...

No. He'd wait, Edward needed him just as much as he needed Ed, he'd come crawling to him eventually.

But what about that voice? It said 'us'. That couldn't be good...

Roy's head was swimming with so many things that had happened, he thought and thought, but no answers came to him.

His train of thought was suddenly cut off from a noise outside, sending him upright and alert instantly. His parents were at work, and his brothers were in their rooms, he could hear them yelling at the video games.

It was too loud for an animal, even for a large dog. Maybe it was Edward...Maybe he was trying to freak him out and get back at him for what he did in the attic...maybe it wasn't...

Roy didn't know whether to run away or to find out what made the noise, and (due to momentarily lack of logic) he ended up walking towards the window.

He pushed up the window-sill to get a better look outside, but everything was quiet, there wasn't even a rustle of the wind. He blinked, confused as to what had made that noise, when there was a light _'tuff'_ as something hit the carpet on the floor.

Roy spun around, staring at the figure in front of him. A woman in a skimp-ish black dress, revealing her large chest with a tattoo on it.

"Who are you?" Was the first thing he could think to say.

A voice came from behind him, the same voice that had talked to him in the attic, the one that talked to Edward;

"I brought some friends to join the party. Stay quiet and we'll get this over with." It said, and then he felt a cold hand wrap itself around his mouth, his eyes wide in shock and fear. The last thing he remembered was trying to scream for Edward, (he thought he might have gotten one call out) before getting knocked out from behind.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

Roy slowly woke, he was cold, and uncomfortable. It was dark, wherever he was, and his eyes adjusted slowly to his surroundings.

The walls were stone, the floor was dirt and concrete, there was a single light in the room, only illuminating a small spot in the midddle.

He tried to move, but soon found his arms were tied up; he was strapped to a chair. A thick belt held him across the chest, and a smaller rope held his hands behind his back, cutting into his wrists.

He vaguely remembered what happened, and then the voice came back to him, sending chills up his spine. He had to get out of here, he had to find Edward...

Just as he started to struggle out of his ropes, there was a noise from the corner of the room. He immediately turned, trying to see who it was, looking for some clue. He thought the thudding footfall was firmiliar, but it wasn't until they stepped into the light that he realized who it was.

"Edward...?" He said breathlessly. Could that really be him? Then again, who else could it be?

"Roy..." Ed replied, quietly walking over to where Roy was sitting.

"Im so sorry..." He said, "I don't know what I was thinking, I...I just..."

Ed leaned over and kissed him slightly forcefully, shoving his toungue into Roy's mouth. He straddled Roy's hips, putting his hands on his shoulders.Roy pulled away first, gasping for breath. He blinked and stared at Edward for a minute, and then leaned back and kicked him, _hard_.

"You're not Ed." He said, glaring at the impersonator. "Ed always has his pocketwatch, he'd never go anywhere without it. He told me himself once."

'Edward' sneered, and suddenly there was a bright white light flowing horizontally down. Golden hair grew longer, changed color to a deep green, a headband appeared, arms grew longer, thinner, paler. Giant golden orbs became smaller, narrower, and changed to purple. His shirt changed, disappeared into a skin-tight black top, leather pants doubled up, and changed into a skort. His legs grew longer, a tattoo appearing on his left one. All in a fraction of a moment, where reality and science laws went on vacation, and the laws of nature went -_KURCHTSFTIPF!-._(A/U That's pronounced, Kurr-shht-ff-tep-fph, I took the time to figure it out in my head.)

Roy blinked in awe.

"Who...Who the hell are you?" He gasped.

"Name's Envy. And I think you should be showing a little more respect for your captor at the moment." He said (Roy thought it was a he...), winking.

"Envy?" Roy repeated the odd name.

He shook his head, remembering what was going on.

"What do you want from me?" He said rudely.

Envy came uncomfortably close, and Roy nearly choked at the thought that he'd kissed him (I swear, _is_ it a dude?) just a minute ago.

"If you're such a genius, why don't _you_ figure out the plan?" He said, putting a hand on his chest and dragging it across his shoulder, around his neck, and leaning down so their faces were close.

_Ok, so apparently this...guy...has been manipulating Ed, so the only reason he would take me is because...Ed's too strong for him to get, so im bait for Edward, and once he gets here..._

Roy's brain snapped out all at once.

"You're horrible..." He mumbled, not meaning to say it out loud.

"Aw, isn't that a shame." Envy said, sitting on Roy's lap. "Because you didn't seem to be complaining a few minutes ago..." His hand brushed across a certain lower area that made Roy start kicking at him again, but he couldn't do anything. Unless of course he learned how to make his legs bend backwards in the next few minutes, he was in trouble.

"Get off!" He growled, still kicking.

"Quite a rowdy one, you are..." Envy said, his voice full of mocking, and his face got so close to Roy's, he could hardly focus his eyes. He turned away, but Envy took the side of his face and made him turn back.

"Envy, stop playing around." Came a female voice from the corner of the room. Roy saw from the corner of his eye that it was the same woman who was in his room when they captured him.

"I think you're in for a surprise," Roy said, somewhat triumphant. "Because I'll be damned if Edward comes looking for me anytime in the next year or so, after what I did. A hostage isn't much good unless the one you're really trying to catch cares about them."

The smirk was wiped right off of Envy's face.

"What are you talking about? The pipsqueak just luuurves you. Of course he'll come running. You're trying to fool me, but it won't work!" He growled, getting off of him. But there was still that doubt in his voice.

No way. Ed won't show up, I know he won't. He never liked me in the first place.

"You keep your mouth closed!" Envy said, hitting him across the face.

Everything fuzzed for a moment.

_Don't come Edward..._ Roy thought _I don't care if I don't ever see you again, I don't care if they kill me. I couldn't live with myself if you showed up and got hurt, I'd die inside. There's nothing I care about more than you're safety, not even my own life. But don't think that i've given up just yet, I have to get out of here and beat these guys. Because if I don't, they'll come after you and I won't be there to protect you...I have to protect you. It's my job. And I don't care what happens, whether I make it back or not, You'll be safe..._

Just then, the door burst open, knocked right off of it's hinges.

_Oh no...Edward! I knew you were stubborn, but come on!_

This was not good...

Murphey I hate you!

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-**

The end was a reference to Murpheys laws, if you don't know, look it up.


	10. The Rescue?

**Chapter 10: The...Rescue?**

Roy stared in utter horror at the blonde who was standing in the doorway, extremely pissed.

"Envy!" He yelled, clapping his hands and putting them on the floor in a flash.

_Edward...he was here..._

_And...he was using Alchemy..._

_Ed said he never used Alchemy, he said he lost the ability after he died, why can he use it now?_

Edward was too slow, and Envy was already across the room and fighting him. However, Envy wasn't who Ed was aiming for.

A spike shot up out of the ground, slicing through the belt attaching him to the chair, and through the ropes around his wrists.

"Damn it, Edward, if you'd been any closer with that one." Roy mumbled, running off in the direction of the door.

He couldn't help Edward fight, he'd seen these guys, if he tried to fight, he'd just cause a bigger problem...

"And where do you think you're going?" The woman said, jumping in front of him and extended her nails to pin him against the wall.

"I'm not going anywhere. He is."

...So the best thing to do would be to cause a distraction. Roy nodded in the direction of Edward, who's foot immediately connected with her face.

Envy jumped up from where he was laying on the ground, and held out what looked like a dog-tag.

Ed froze in his tracks, running towards the door alongside Roy. His eyes were wide with fear, he stared at the black tag on a chain for a long moment.

"What is it?" Roy asked, not wanting to go back into the place, but couldn't help himself from standing beside Ed.

"We have to get out of here, come on!" He tugged on his arm.

Ed shook his head in a dreamlike state.

"No..." He said faintly. "You go, I'll..." He watched the tag dangling on the chain, the triumphant smirk on Envy's face never shifting.

"I can't leave without you!" Roy protested, "Tell me what's going on!" He demanded.

Envy cackled.

"I have no problem explaining it to you, seeing as chibi-san is at a loss of words." he said, cocking his head.  
Ed didn't shift, or show even one flicker of difference at 'Chibi-san'. Roy backed away slowly.

"Now listen closely, because I'll only say this once." Envy said, all to happily. "This thing here- (He shook the dog-tag) -gives me total control over Hagane-no-pipsqueak over there."  
"What?"

"See this little gidget here?" He continued, spinning the tag around to show a complex little circle made in...blood.(1) "This is what ties him to the world of the living. It's a complex blood seal only known to the homunculus, and our master."

Roy blinked. Envy sighed.

"I erase this. Chibi go 'poof'. Simple enough, genius?"

Roy just stared blankly, stunned slightly.

"Allow me to give a demonstration." He said maliciously. Then he took the tag in his palm and nicked the edge of the circle with his finger.

Ed flinched, and then screamed, falling to his knees.

Roy dropped down beside him urgently,

"Ed! Edward!! Are you okay?" He said to him, then turned to Envy. "Stop it!!" He yelled, begged. Envy just laughed.

"Now," Envy said, continuing. "Little Edo agreed to make the philosophers stone for us, in exchange, he gets to stay down here with his beloved Mustang-koi." Envy said, putting his hands over his chest, then fake vomiting.

Roy looked at him, confused. He knew of the philosphers stone, of course. He read Ed's alchemy notes all the time.

Envy hit his forhead.

"What don't you understand? I said I'd only say it once..." He said, the fun wiped from his voice.

Roy remained silent.

"Oh for gods sake...Anyway. Pipsqueak thought he could worm his way out of creating the stone, so we've decided to take him on full-time, with supervising." He smiled evily. Just then, the woman came up behind Roy and picked Edward off the ground.

"You know where to take him, Lust." Envy said, turning around and started walking away, apparently bored with the whole situation.

But there's no way Roy would let this happen, whether he could fight or not, no one would take Ed from him. He had to protect him. He ran at lust, dodging her lengthening nails, and hit her right in the mouth. He jumped up and landed on her shoulders, growling.

_What was wrong with him? Why was he doing this?_

He jumped off and ran straight past Ed, right at Envy. He kicked at him, but he was faster, and moved to the side, grabbing his outstretched leg and pulling him onto the ground. Roy footsweeped, but Envy jumped, landing behind him and stepping on the side of his head, making Roy immobile.

"Aww, poor Mustang. Now you'll never get to see your blonde bimbo of a rescuer again. Oh well." He said, shrugging sarcastically.

"Wrong."  
Roy punched Envy right inbetween the eyes, knocking him backwards. Roy immediately dove for the black dog-tag in his hand, but again, Envy was too fast, and slammed him into the wall, cutting his right arm open.

Roy gasped in pain, but kicked at him again, getting thrown to the floor a second time.

_So that's how it was._

Roy stood up, and kicked at Envy, who (like the first two times) shifted his body weight forward to increase the power towards his right leg. Too bad for Envy he was kicking with his left. He pulled it back, and Envy was immediately off balance, and Roy hit him in the back of the head. Roy snatched the dog-tag and ran across the room, towards Edward, who was close to unconciousness. He bent down next to him.

"Ed...Ed stay awake, okay? You can't go to sleep. Stay awake, come on, stay with me..." He pleaded, and Ed looked to the tag in Roy's hand. He tried to talk but Roy stopped him. Roy finally took a good look at the tag, it was rectangular, black on one side, silver on the other, the black side had the same snake-sign that Edward had on the back of his coat. The silver side had that blood seal thing on it, but one of the sides was smudged out- that must be what was wrong with Edward.

Without thinking, Roy took some of the blood from his own arm and smudged it into place around the circle.

It glowed and his arm suddenly seared in pain. Had something gone wrong, had he not done it properly-? No. This was what was supposed to happen, He'd read about it in Edward's notes, that's how he knew.

Edward gasped beside him, but he hardly noticed, his arm was numbly sore. Then he passed out.

This had better be good.

Nothing was ever good.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

Omg. I just finished my **Fourth** can of pop writing this. I've listened to 36 songs on my MP3 player to get through this fic, THATS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL. NOW REVIEW WHILE MY PANCREAS EXPLODES FROM SUGAR INTAKE.

Ah hell, Let's include the details, my brain died 15 minutes ago. Believe me or not, but Im not lying, I have no reason to lie to you. It's not like I do this to impress you, I dont think it's impressive, just insane .

I drank one can of Coca-Cola( the red one), on of 'Big UP Lemon-Lime soda' one MUG Root Beer and a Big UP Coke (the newer one, the blue one.)

The songs i've listened to are:

1.Low Rider

2. Butterfly

3. Ghostbusters theme song

4. Behind Blue Eyes

5. Pretty fly for a white guy

6. When you were young

7. Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo

8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Comic theme

9. Not gonna get us

10. Im just a kid

11. Shaman King theme song

12. Man, I feel like a woman (i actually hate this song, but whatever)

13. Bridge to Nowhere

14. Banana Phone

15. Melissa - FMA OPENING 1

16. I write sins not tragedies

17. Sakura Kiss (Ouran High School Host Club opening)

18. Numa Numa

19. Here it goes again (CHECK OUT THIS SONG IF YOU HAVN'T HEARD IT BEFORE)

20. Gotta Keep 'em seperated

21. Someday

22, Naruto OST - Sakura's theme (Don't ask me why)

23. Naruto - Morning Remix

24. Naruto fourth opening - GO!!!

25. Story of a Girl

26. My December

27. Can I go nowhere with you

28. Howl's moving castle theme song (OMFG SEE THIS MOVIE IF YOU HAVN'T, OR READ THE BOOK)

29. I just want (bang bang bang)

30. The Monster Mash

31. .Hack//sign opening - Obsession

32. .Hack//sign - Sora (beautiful song)

33. DDR MAX - Witch doctor

34. DDR - Whistle Song

35. DDR - Mr. Wonderful

36. DDR - Moonlight Shadow

I just realized my reflexes have slowed to about two minutes now. THANK YOU CLEVELAND! passes out


	11. The Confession

**Chapter 11: The Confession**

Roy slowly awakened, feeling something soft and warm to his right. Being as cold as he was, instinct automatically told him to curl up to the warmth, to which he gladly obliged. However, when the warm fuzz next to him cuddled back and mumbled something incoherent, he nearly hit his head off the roof (which was quite low).

The blonde boy next to him felt the sudden lapse in heat, and his top half curled over so his head was paralell to his knees. Odd as it looked, Roy was now unfazed, since Edward had a tendancy to get into strange positions while sleeping.

Roy apparently screamed, or made some sort of noise in surprise, because Ed shifted, and it took a hell of a lot to get that out of him while he slept. Ed rolled around for a minute and slowly opened his eyes. Roy noticed a change immediately. His eyes were so...full of emotion. They were sparkling with determination and strength and so many other things he couldn't think of at the moment. They were completely to the contrary of what they usually looked like, they even looked more gold now. Instead of the beaten, dulled, hopeless look that occupied the dingy yellow pools just some few days ago.

Roy silently wondered if this was what his eyes always looked like, what they were supposed to look like, and if so, why had they changed?

"Mmeh?" Edward said, sitting up, his eyes drooping a considerable amount.

Roy was suddenly snapped back to the world of the concious, and took it for a 'What?'.

"Y-You-You were...clinging on me...cuddling...i-into me.." He stuttered out, making feeble movements with his hands to explain what he was rambling about.

Ed responded with a rather red face, spouting something about 'Rolling over in his sleep' or 'It _is_ cold out here...'

Roy sat so he was comfortable.

"Where _is_ here?" He said, looking around the small, dark place. It definately wasn't the attic.

"It's a tree. Believe it or not." Edward said, looking around himself.

"I hollowed it out with alchemy when I was young. I used to come here to get away from my father every now and then. This is the first time i've been here in almost sixty years..." He sort of drifted off, apparently remembering something.

Roy started to follow him, but a ton of memory flared up in his mind and he remembered why they were here.

"What happened?" He said, making Ed jump slightly.

"Huh?"  
Roy growled. "You know what im talking about. What happened after I passed out? I mean apparently you're okay, but how'd I get here? What happened with the seal, Why did it work?"

Edward blinked.

"Um...Repeat the first question again?"

"What happened..."  
"Right, Right. After you passed out It was like...I was fighting with a new strength...I beat Envy and took you here. Im still doing research on what exactly happened with the blood-seal, and uhm...that's about it." He said, checking to see he didn't miss anything.

Roy gawked, clueless as to what to say.

"That's it? What do you mean that's it? You nearly died! And how could you carry me all the way here? No, _why_ did you carry me here? You _hate_ me with a passion!"

Roy raised his voice, finally finding it.

"I couldn't die, I was already-"  
"We've been through this..."

"-dead, and I don't know, it was just like all of a sudden I was so much stronger. After you did whatever you did with the bloodseal, I mean-

"Oh sure, you tell me you understand it all _now_-"

" I just figured it out, and why _wouldn't_ I carry you back here? Why would you think I hate you,-"  
"Oh, Jeeze, I dunno, maybe because you havn't even been looking at me for the last 4 days!"  
"-I love you!"

..."W-what?" Roy blinked, staring at the blonde, who was attempting to kill himself from the inside out.

"You...You heard what I said..." Edward said, discovering five new shades of red at once, all of which appeared on his face of the same time.

There was silence for a few minutes, while the two of them realized what was happening.

When Roy finally understood the situation, he didn't know why, didn't care, but he thought he never felt happier in his life. It started slowly, bubbling from the inside out, and something inside him screamed.

'_He loves you! Ha! He actually loves you! No more worrying, no more contemplating, no more stressing over it, Because he loves you back! Now _kiss_ him!'_

And without another thought, he happily agreed with the silent raging voices, and did as they pleaded.

Edward's face reddened even more (if physically possible) but he returned the kiss passionately. Roy deepened it, happy this was finally happening, and not in a fantasy, not in a dream, not a figment of his imagination, it was _real._

His hand slid around Ed's waist, pulling him against himself. They kissed until their lungs begged for air, and when they pulled away they both felt light headed.

"Why...Why did you freak out like that...in the attic?" Roy panted, re-living the moment they just had over, and over, and over again.

"Because...Envy was watching, baka. I knew if he found out how I felt for you, he'd use you against me. Which he did." Ed said, regret filled his voice.

Roy stared at Ed for a minute, just staring at him like he so often did, but this time he didn't care if he was noticed.

"Let's go home..." Edward said, looking at the small door cut in the side of the tree.

Roy nodded and they left.

Nothing interesting happened along the way to the house, exept Ed's random comments about how it was great to be free. Envy never let him leave the house, or he would tamper with the blood seal. Now that Ed had, it he could do as he pleased.

Roy opened the door to his house and walked in, followed by Ed.

"Who's your new friend?" He heard his mother say from the living room.

"What?"

His mother nodded towards Ed.

"Who's your friend?"

Every fibre in Roy Mustang's body told him not to scream '_You can see him!?!?!?' _And he just barely managed that.

"Hi, Im Edward Elric. I go to Roy's school. He said it would be Okay if I came over this afternoon, it is, isn't it?" Ed spouted instantly, seeing as Roy momentarily lost the ability of his vocal box.

His mom could see Ed...

Ah screw it,

He was in it deep.

-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-

Oh, damn the shortness of this chapter. I just wanted to update so you guys didn't think I died, but im close to right now. Sorry, I have to admit that I honestly do my homework sometimes, and it's in french, so that would be the delay. I also have two more fics on the way, one is an original story, the other is FMA. But just because Im mean, im not posting them 'till they're done. But I promise they will rock. Ill have updates soon, I promise. I LOVE YOU GUYS, REVIEW FOR ME!!!


	12. The Laws

**Chapter 12: The Laws**

"Hi, Im Edward Elric. I go to Roy's school. He said it would be Okay if I came over this afternoon, it is, isn't it?" Ed spouted instantly, seeing as Roy momentarily lost the ability of his vocal box.

His mom could see Ed...aw hell.

Roy's mother stared at the two for a moment, sensing something strange (she is a mother, after all).

"It's nice to meet you. Edward...Edward...where have I heard that name before?"

Roy contained his sigh. He'd only rambled about it for two days on end.

"Nowhere mom, you must be thinking of someone else." Roy quickly replied.

"Oh, Oh well. Yes, It would be fine if he stayed. Will he be here for supper?" She said, letting it pass.

"Yes" Ed said before Roy could speak, he seemed to have the whole situation under control anyway.

"'Kay mom, we're going to my room." Roy said, grabbing Edward by his braid and dragging him up the stairs to keep him from talking to his mom any further. Ed talked too much. It wasn't that noticable to people who didn't know him well, but once he started talking, and it was a topic he actually enjoyed, he never shut up.

"So," Roy said, shutting his door and sitting on his bed next to Ed.

"What are we going to do about this?"

Ed shrugged. "Far as I can tell, Im mortal now, so I guess Im going to be required by law to go to school, and-"

"Wait. Why would you go to school? You already know twice as much as I do." Roy cut him off.

"I know, but it's easier to go back to school for me to understand the 'modern age' and all that stuff. And I get to bother you **all day**" He said, dropping his voice evily, leaning forward so his face was close to Roy's. Roy smirked.

"Not if I keep you occupied with..._other things_..." He said, his voice extremely low. He bent down to kiss Ed when the door burst open, causing him to hit the floor.

His brother stared for a second and laughed, and laughed until he had to hold the doorframe and tears came out of his eyes.

"Guys-!" He tried to call his brothers, but lack of oxygen caused a coughing fit, and he just kept laughing.

"Get the hell out of my room!" Roy screamed, jumping at his brother. His brother moved out of the way and grabbed the back of Roy's navy blue sweater.

"You can't fight me..._(cough)fag!" _His brother said, finding his new nickname extremely amusing.

However, somewhere deep down in Ed, gears started turning. Slowly they turned, then turned, and _click_ed.

"Get out of here you asshole! You probably just call him gay because you want to direct the attention away from yourself!" He screamed, landing a boot in the middle of his face (which was surprising, because he had to jump a whole 3 feet just to reach).

"Holy shit-!" Roy's brother exclaimed, more surprised than hurt, but it still gave him a hell of a nosebleed, none-the-less.

"Fuck Off." Ed snarled.

"What th-"

"_Fuck. OFF." _He said, raising his voice somewhat. Roy's brother took off down the hallway before anything else was said.

Roy stared in utter amazement.

"Where did that come from?" He said, still staring at the spot where his brother disappeared upstairs to his room.

Edward's face dropped behind his bangs, still panting from the sudden energy exert.

"I..._refuse._ To let the same thing happen to you that happened to me. I will tear that boy down with every fibre in my body if I _ever_ hear him call you that again. I was called a faggot for every single day of my life, and I will die _again_ before it happens to you." His voice trembled slightly, but he would be damned if he ever let a tear fall in the presence of Roy.

Roy put a hand on Ed's shoulder.  
"Don't worry about him, let's find out what's going on with you. You have some books in the attic, let's learn more about that blood seal. I want to learn. Teach me."

Ed looked up. "You'd learn Alchemy just to help me?"

Roy blinked. "Of course I would, I'd do anything for you. It doesn't matter what it is, even if I hated it, i'd do it for you. I want to help you, I want to _help."_ He said, squeezing the blonde's shoulder.

Edward may have been so small he had to stand on his tip-toes to kiss Roy just then, but at the moment, He felt 10 feet tall.

The boys looked through Ed's notes and books until Roy's mother yelled them downstairs for dinner. They looked through everything, relevant or non-relevant, and at the same time, Ed taught Roy what all of it meant. He told him about the laws equivalent exchange, of bloodseals, of the elements, the utensils, the properties, the rules, the taboos, the reactions, the Humonculus, _everything_ that he knew, Starting with history.

"All specific and individual things which fall under a certain class obey the general laws and are referable to the first principles of the class to which they belong. Thus, every animal is the product of sexual union; every plant, of its proper seed; every mineral, of the mixture of its generic earth and water. Hence, an unchangeable law of Nature regulates the generation of everything within the limits of its own particular genus. It follows that, with reference to their origin, animals are generically distinct from vegetables and minerals; the same difference exists respectively between vegetables and minerals and the two other natural kingdoms. Explain."  
Roy blinked, re-reading the text over again.  
"Each Mineral, Animal, Human or Plant can only come from the same genetic matter. A human can not give birth to an animal, and humans can not come from plant seed. So, every one of those things must come from somewhere, because they can't appear out of thin air, because air is not of the same matter. That is one of the first Laws of Nature."  
He spouted.  
"Good. Now explain the rules of Chaos."  
Roy sighed. "Chaos is the boundaries of all the elements; Earth, Air...Fire and Water. The elements have all four qualities that humans can be aware of, heat, coldness, humidity, dryness. The first is fire, the second is water, the third is air, and the fourth is earth."  
"Boys! Dinner's ready!" Roy heard his mother call.  
"Food. Bye." Ed smiled stupidly and was gone with inhuman speed. Roy was left to blink and chase in pursuit.  
Ed scarfed down his food so fast he was finished before all Roy's brothers (which was _really_ saying something), and spent the rest of the time talking to Roy's parents. Something about it made him feel really uneasy, but he didn't know why. He just kept thinking Ed was going to get himself trapped somehow. Like them asking where he lived, or who his homeroom teacher was. He just didn't like it.  
Roy finished up his food and hauled Ed upstairs again, to finish their study on the Laws of Nature, which happened to take until 2:30 in the morning. Because in case you've forgotten, the laws of nature themselves include; Isaac Newtons laws of Universal Gravitation, The three laws of motion, and the groundwork for Classical Mechanics. Then there was his Laws of Optics, Laws of Cooling, his writings on the speed of sound, and of course the generalised binomial theorem. After that they touched on Einsteins Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, his principal of relativity, and Maxwells equations of electromagnetism. Then there was the rest; Boyle's law of gases, the four laws of thermodynamics, conservation laws, etc.(A/N I know all of these, by the way. Feel free to ask, I can explain them all to you another time if you're bored enough.)

Roy finally crashed on Ed's blankets, and Ed soon followed. Roy found the mental energy to reach an arm around and pull Edward towards him, holding him protectively. Things were perfect for that one moment of time, when all laws and theorys of Maturity, perfect, and imperfect laws were forgotten.

There was no way this could go wrong.  
Could it?

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x**  
sigh I don't believe it, I spent two hours writing this, and it's so short! Theres a scientific law for you. Sorry if I confused you guys with all the Alchemy crap in there, I really could explain it to you if you wanted. I have enough time. Except im failing math class xO ** 65** is not good...And don't worry, I went to the shrine, and the Almighty lords of FMA Fanfics have granted me immortality to finish this fic, only if you REVIEW! If I get to 75 reviews, Ill post the one thing Im afraid of XD Yes, thats right, Rei Sanjo has a weakness! Review and find out what it is! grhrhrhrhrhrh And whoever told me about the FreeSpell thing, I LOVE YOU!! I AM AT YOUR COMMAND, GREAT MASTER OF GRAMMAR!!!


	13. The Enrolement

**Chapter 13: The Enrolement**

Roy awoke to a bright light in his face, pounding on his eyelids telling him 'Get up you lazy bastard, its Monday'.

He groaned and rolled over, staring at large mass of some type of hybrid-cross between Edward and his blankets. Roy poked it, but he was too tired to put any force behind it. He sighed and sat up, staring at the messy-haired blond and wondering if he would be a total ass this morning or not.

Yeah.

Yeah he would.

Roy got up and went down the trapdoor to the bathroom, grabbing a bucket from the closet along the way.

"Ed."

"Menh."

"Ed, if you don't get up and go to school i swear ill dump a bucket of water on your head."

Ed stayed silent for a minute, and just when Roy thought he fell back asleep he said;

"Nuh. You said tha' b'fore. Nuh freekin' out this time..."

"You sure?"

"Meh."

"Okay." He replied nonchalantly, turning the red bucket in his hands upside down and running for his life.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Compared to most people, mornings in the Mustang house were not what you call 'Typical'. How long it had been like that, none of them knew. But wherever you went, be it grandmother's or cousins or uncles, morning time was just downright scary. And hell, let's throw Edward in the mix too.

"Roy Mustang! I swear when I get my hands on you, y-"

"No death threats boys."

"Ha Ha! Roy's gunna get his ass kicked by the midget!"

(Crash)

"I'm not a midget you freakin' amazons! Get a life!"

"Don't fight in the kitchen!"

(Like anyone payed attention to that.)

(Whoosh)

(Thunk)

"Dammit, Mustang!"

(Whip, Thud)

"HA! Who's taller now!"

(Fwup)

"That was a cheap shot, you Idiot! Stop laughing!"

(Whoop, Whoop, Pat.)

"Come on, you two, Kiss and make up already!"

"DIE!!"

(Flash)

"HA!"

(Clunk)

"Boys, you're going to miss the bus!"

(Zing.)

Silence. (A/N Based on a true story, Sanjo style. Oh, how I miss the family reunions.)

Roy's mother sighed. Edward fit in already.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Roy and Ed found a double-seat on the bus and sat down quietly. Ed clapped his hands together, but Roy stopped him.

"You can't do that here," He whispered. "Theres too many people...)

"What, so you expect me to stay soaked?" Ed growled in disapproval at being stopped.

"Just until we get to school, please?" He asked.

"Fine..."

Roy turned and looked out the window, noting (not for the first time, either) that there was absolutely nothing to look at. The entire area was just dry dirt and dead trees, flat enough to make a philosopher believe the earth wasn't round.

"So, what are you going to do about school?" Roy asked, still staring at the blank road beside them.

"Ill just say that I moved here, and my parents couldn't find the number for the school. They let you do stuff like that around here, you know."

"No, I didn't." Roy said. "Where I come from, everything is high-tech and always busy. You can't leave anything of yours alone if you don't want it to be stolen. People walk around with knives and things just for protection. Everything has to be proven by papers, or the Internet. And there are so many people, they have to cram them in apartments about as big as the attic."

Ed stared.

"Thats terrible! How do you live in a place like that?"

Roy just shrugged.

"Now that you mention it, I do prefer this place better than back home...you can go for a walk and not get mobbed, you can see the sunset every morning, and the stars actually come out at night. It might be desolate, but its better than vacuum sealed in a 1K apartment."

Ed nodded.

"Did you have any friends where you lived?" He asked after a moment of silence.

Roy looked thoughtful for a minute.

"Not really. Except that one girl- Sakai- I was telling you about, the one that reminded me of you. But we could never really hang out, because everyone always asked if we were going out. It's like that there, too. Everyone lives under that saying that 'A boy and a girl can't just be friends', so whenever I had a friend that was a girl, no one would ever leave us alone. Not that I avoided her, but...I just wouldn't go running toward her every time I saw her." He said.

"Did you like her?" Edward said.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" Roy said with a smirk, turning around and looking at Ed.

"N-No!" He said quickly, turning around and facing the other way.

Roy just laughed and began staring out the window again.

"Nah. She was my friend, how could I like her? I could just never look at her that way. And no, she didn't have any feelings for me. Im positive of that. She was sort of a tomboy, so she preferred to be best friends with guys, rather than date them. She wasn't interested in a love life, but that didn't stop anyone from asking her everyday. But let's not talk about it." He added, seeing the look on Ed's face.

The rest of the bus ride passed in silence, until it stopped at the school and Ed took off running to find the office, and Roy went to homeroom.

He walked into the classroom, making sure to be quiet, sit in his seat and sit up straight. He put his hands on his desk and waited quietly. There was no way Bennett would get him today. Hah.

A few minutes later, the teacher came into the room, with a yellow sheet in his hand, looking it over.

"Silence!" He said loudly, even though the room was completely quiet. (A/N I swear to god a substitute did this to us once XD I just had to put it in the fic. We mocked him for months)

"Theres a new student joining our class today, here he comes now." He said, just as Edward walked into the classroom.

(phhhhht)

Nuuuuuu!

(phhhhht)

Roy couldn't help but hit his head off the desk.

"Sit up straight!" Mr. Bennett barked, then turned back to Ed.

"This is Edward Eric."

"Elric." He said with a sigh.

"Don't correct me."

Ed twitched slightly.

"Take a seat."

He sat down in the empty desk to Roy's right with his goofy smile.

This was definitely going to be a long day.

-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

Edward whipped right through his work, Algebra, History (Jeese, who would have figured, Considering he lived in the frickin' 19th century), English, and he was even good in Phys. Ed.

Roy sighed as he went into the locker rooms. He felt sorry for all those girls, Mr. Bennett had made them run extra laps, he said they weren't paying enough attention. But Roy knew he just wanted to see them run because of their...well...-you know whats-. He was a complete pervert, and Roy knew it. Just another reason to hate him.

Besides, The girls deserved better treatment than that!

He took a look around the locker room; there was a big wooden bench in the middle of the floor, a row of shelves for their backpacks on the side, a coat-rack, three change rooms and two showers with curtains covering them.

He noticed Edward getting his change of clothes and going to one of the changing stalls. Roy walked over to him, dropping his voice so only Ed could hear him.

"Why don't you just change out here?" He said with a smirk, nudging Ed in the ribs.

"Why can't I just share a room with you?" Ed said, smirking back.

Roy looked around and turned back, kissing Ed quickly.

"Don't worry, we will. Sooner or later." He laughed and took the changing room Ed was about to go into.

"And no peeking!" He kicked the door, receiving a loud 'OW!' From the other side.

They walked out of the boys change rooms together, and as they began to cross the gym, Roy noticed Mr. Bennett walking toward the girls'. No matter what came after this, it couldn't be good.

"Whatcha doing, Mr. Bennett?" He said, jogging over to stand in front of the girls' locker room, soon followed by Ed.

"Im telling them to get out and get back to class."

"Isn't it illegal for a male teacher to look in the girl's change rooms?" He said, not moving from the doorway.

"Don't you tell me what's legal and what's not. Now get out of the way."

"Okay." He growled and got out of the way, but not before Ed knocked on the door , sending all the girls inside into a panic to finish getting changed or run into a corner.

"Dammit, Boy! See me after class today!" He yelled at Ed, echoing through the whole gym.

Roy waited at the door for Ed, and started walking with him.

"What'd you do that for? You're in trouble now." He asked.

Ed just shrugged. "My mom always told me to respect girls, and to look out for them, because they need your help." Roy thought for a minute and started laughing. "If I'd told that to Sakai, she'd probably knock me one upside the head." They laughed together for a minute, and then Roy asked;

"So, How are you getting home this afternoon?"

Ed shrugged.

"Ill find a way."

"Whatever you say..."

-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o- After school -x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

As soon as the bell rang for school to end, the entire student body disappeared so fast, Edward wondered if they'd been transported into thin air. Seriously. He'd never seen such a large amount of people leave an area so fast, and he'd been in the military! He wandered the large building, somewhat lost (though he'd never admit it) and trying to find a place he recognized. Ah, well there was the office so if he went straight and then up the stairs...

Okay...maybe not. Maybe he went the wrong way. He turned back around when he saw a teacher stick his head out of a door frame.

"Hey Kid, You lost?"

(Do the teachers have no respect for their students here or what?)

"Just a little..." He said, realizing something was off. He couldn't figure it out, but it was...familiar...somehow. He just couldn't quite place it.

The teacher motioned for Ed to come, and then disappeared into the classroom. He followed slowly, trying to find the reason for his silently rising panic. He stepped inside the room, and he was getting extremely annoyed at what was wrong.

He walked over to a chart on the side of the wall, staring at it and thinking. There was a click as the door closed behind him, and realization walked up and punched him in the face.

Alcohol...

He couldn't keep himself from gasping slightly. Ed had a nose for everything, he could always smell things before anyone else, why hadn't he noticed?

Alcohol...The same alcohol his father drank.

He turned around but the teacher was already standing in front of him, causing him to jump back into the blackboard, ramming his back onto the small metal chalk shelf.

"W-What are you doing?" He asked, his eyes getting wide. He stared up at the teacher. He was actually quite young, he wore wire-framed glasses, making him scary looking (in Edward's point of view).

"You little bastard..." He said, his voice slurred a considerable amount. He grabbed Edward's wrists and held them above his head against the wall.

"What are you doing at school this late after school, Hm? Kids like you are looking for trouble..."

"No! I-"

"If it's trouble you want, It's trouble you'll get." He said, forcing his knee between Ed's legs, so he couldn't move. His eyes got even wider.

Theres no way this is happening! No WAY!

He struggled, but (much as he didn't look it) the teacher was stronger than him. He lowered his face parallel to Edward's. He could smell the reeking alcohol on his breath. A hundred memories flooded his mind at the same second, and he realized there was no way he could get out of this.

This was not good.

In fact, this couldn't get any worse.

Yes. Yes it could.

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AHAHAHAHAHA Cliff-hanger! omfg what's gunna happen? Review! 5 more reviews and I tell you my biggest fear. (It's actually quite pathetic...O.o And it's deranged. So actually, don't review and I wont have to tell you...eheh.) Sorry it took a while, I was just trying to get some ideas. And I don't know where this came from. I think I was sugar-high at the time...so blame it on that. Flame if you want, it was a bad chapter.


	14. The Flashback

**Chapter 14: The Flashback**

_Edward stared into the cold, unfocused eyes of the man pinning him against the wall._

'Theres no hope for you.' They said. Mocked. Ed squirmed, trying to find some lapse in the teachers strength, but there was no way out. He couldn't jump, move sideways, or forward thanks to the leg pinning his where they were. He couldn't hit him, or head-butt him, because his hands were pinned together.

That's it...His hands were pinned together!

Ed clapped his hands together fiercely, but (much to his horror) he realized he couldn't make them touch the chalkboard digging into his back. The grip on them was too tight to turn them sideways.

"What do you think you're doing?" The spectacled teacher drawled in his face.

"Fuck _you_!" He spat, though it was not exactly the most intelligent thing to say at the moment, he couldn't help it. He continued moving, squirming, fighting for some minor weakness in the iron grip pinning him against the wall.

And then...

_(Slap)_

Then, everything happened again.

There was a faint pop noise, like someone gently smacked the side of their cheek. It came from inside, but there was a difference. This time...This time he knew what it was. This time, it didn't take until the warm liquid filled his mouth that he realized his jaw had been broken. He already knew.

Edward looked up and was greeted with the face of his father. And there was no question in his face, it had been just like before. That look of hatred and hopeless sorrow. And then his father grabbed his shirt in his hands and slammed him against the fixture behind him, no longer the chalkboard, but the wrought-iron staircase. He felt something trickle down his neck and settle in his shirt. And just like before, he did nothing in response, because he was scared. And he knew why...

He could feel it.

His body slowly, gently, softly stopping. _Shutting down_. He could feel it slipping away, but his eyes were still working, and he wished they would stop working before he died again. He didn't want to have his eyes open, just like last time, to look up in his fathers eyes and only wonder why he hated him so. He was his son, was he not supposed to love him? No matter what he was like, or what happened, you were supposed to love your children...but he didn't. And he didn't want to have to look and stare into this face of sheer hatred and drunkenness, and just sit and watch as he slowly lost the use of his legs and then his arms. But not his eyes, no.

And he could see him. The one person that made him regret having to leave. To die. That person over there, standing in the doorway. The one person he cared about, more than anything, the one person who accepted him, and cared for him. And the only reason why feeling slowly itched back into his limbs before his father could see...

Alphonse.

He didn't know it was possible, after all, he was a man of science. Being such, he was supposed to know that once your body started shutting down, you couldn't come back. You were finished, and could only watch as you slowly slipped away from the world of the living, being pulled and grabbed by the cold, clammy hands of death. And they lifted you from the ground, and pulled you upward into a darkness comprised of fear. But they started letting go, he slowly landed back down on earth into the arms of his brother. And he had to protect him.

"Alphonse, Im so sorry...I was supposed to always be there for you. But I died..." He said to the figure in the doorway.

_Why? Why did it all have to happen again, why all the same way? He could feel fists connecting with his face, and he said something that he himself didn't understand. He just stared at the person in the doorway, and was saddened that this time wasn't the same. This time, he wasn't coming back. There was no feeling in his entire body, he'd had his second chance, and that was apparently too much. He just stared at the person in the doorway until all his eyes could see was white, and the silhouette of the person in the doorway. But then..._

Then it stopped.

The light slowly dimmed, until he could see the person really standing in the doorway.

_Roy Mustang._

Edward never knew he'd had so much appreciation for a thing or a name before.

_Roy Mustang._

He loved it, to him, those words were better than immortal life, better than anything he could ever hope to see or do.

_Roy Mustang._

"Roy Mustang..." His lips formed the words, and he felt his arms slip to his sides and fell forward, but Roy caught him.

"Roy..." He said again. "Im so..._tired_..." Ed barely whispered the last words, feeling darkness surround him and coax him into unconsciousness.

"No...No! Edward!" He felt Roy shaking him. "Edward, you can't fall asleep, just stay awake, okay!? Stay awake..." The last words were a pleading, begging whisper spoken into his ear. The concern and passion just filling those words was enough to bring him back to the classroom.

"Roy..." Ed couldn't think of what to say, he didn't care. He just loved the comfort in that name.

He looked up at the dark-haired boy still holding him in his arms, and gently reached up and kissed him.

"Don't leave..." He said after he pulled away, leaving Roy somewhat shocked.

"I-I won't leave...just...just stay awake. Im going to get someone to help you okay? Just stay awake." He shifted Ed onto his back and ran out the door at a speed he didn't know he could reach, even without a person clinging to him.

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Roy sat in the waiting room, slowly, slowly, beating his head off the wall, trying to get a straight thought through his head.

Looks like it wasn't coming along anytime soon. His thought process went something like this;

_Kill the teacher._

_Ed's gunna die._

_Kill the teacher._

_Why hadn't I come sooner?_

_Did I kill the teacher?_

_Why won't he die?_

_What about my parents?_

_Kill the teacher. (If I didn't already)_

_What about Ed?_

_How will I explain this to my parents?_

_WHY DIDN'T I KILL THE TEACHER!?_

The door opened and a red-headed nurse came out.

"Um...Roy Mustang?" She said, looking at him. "The doctor said you could go-"

Swish.

"- in..."

She looked over her shoulder at the speeding black dot that had once been a person.

_(Oh Yeah. Yeah he was so his boyfriend. Cindy owed her five bucks...)_

Roy slowly opened the door, extremely pissed at the fact that he wasn't allowed into the room when he first brought Ed here. Then again, the other half of him was still in shock and sadness that this was actually happening, that Edward could have actually died again. That couldn't happen, right? He had to stay here, he just had to...

He quietly made his way to the bedside, though for what reason he wasn't sure, and gently leaned over the bars on the side of the hospital bed, peering at the sleeping Elric.

He had bandages wrapped around his head, wrists, and from what he could see, his shoulders as well. He bowed his head and sighed, not sure what else he could do. He couldn't accept this had happened, he needed to call his parents.

_No, I can't call my parents...were his immediate thoughts. I can't explain this to them, they'll ask how I knew Ed was getting hurt, and where his parents were, and where he lived, and...and...ARGH!_

He nearly started beating his head off the wall again, but a shift from the blob below him stopped all process of thought.

Ed rolled over again, trying to get comfortable in the small, itchy hospital bed. Roy wanted to call his name, or touch him, but his body just wouldn't move. He just couldn't...

And then the golden orbs opened, and there was light. Animated, shining beacons lighting up the entire white room, and then there was life. And suddenly everything seemed so real, the cold steel underneath his hands, the shivering slowly creeping from inside of him, the rasping breath emanating from his throat, the injured blond boy standing in front of him, and the knocking and entering of someone else...

_His Parents._

_And somewhere, somewhere far away in an indistinct land, A man named Murphy sat and laughed. And laughed and laughed until he couldn't take it anymore, and just sat back to watch the mess he'd caused, and laughed yet again._

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Omg sorry, I haven't updated in like a week! Im not dead, I promise! I have a contract with the fanfic gods! I've just been so busy and haven't found the time to write, I know it's a bad excuse, but I couldn't really think of what to put anyway. Sorry its so short, I just wanted to get something out there, and this all does have a point eventually, so don't think I've gone totally random and insane. You'll see next chapter, or maybe one after that (Which will be soon!)


	15. The Truth

**Chapter 15: The Truth**

Roy spun around on his heels, taking in the sight in front of him.

His parents.

He visibly paled, having no clue what he was about to say to them, but apparently the opposing knew quite the opposite.

"My goodness! What happened? Are you hurt? They called us from the school, we had no idea where you were! You scared me half to death, Roy!" His mother immediately commenced her bubbling sequence, making Roy's insides lurch with unsureness.

He opened his mouth once, and- finding that no words would come out of it- closed it again.

"I-"

"My parents..." Came a feeble, strange-sounding voice from behind him. Roy spun around again, finding himself getting quite dizzy from all the sudden movements, and stared at the blond speaking.

_Good one..._

Roy knew Edward was lying, and he was damned good at it, too. He always knew when he lied, his voice pitch changed, almost like if he were on helium, but most people didn't notice. And it was a good lie too. Ed could really think on his toes when he needed to, and what better to say than the 'abusive parents' spiel? He knew alto about Roy's mother already, and how she couldn't resist a good sap story- this would definitely get her. (And sure enough-)

She gasped. "Oh, you poor child!" She immediately began fussing, her heels clattering as she crossed the room to his bedside.

"Yeah...well...It's nothing bad." Edward turned his head away, attempting to act like he was one of those 'tough guys who could take stuff like this'- his mom would definitely fall for that too.

"What are you talking about? We can't stand by and let this happen! Do you have anywhere else to stay? Aunts, Grandparents, any family?" She continued, completely 'suckered in' as some would say.

Edward shook his head, folding his arms.

"Just my parents and I."

Five words, and ding ding ding ding Match over.

"Oh, you must stay with us, We can't let this happen!"

_(Two words, boo-yah.)_

"Are you sure, mom?" Roy chimed in. He knew if anyone put resistance, she'd only want to do it more. That was how his mother worked. He knew it, even if she didn't.

"Of course! Yes, we'll take you home right when you get out of the hospital. However, I'd like to speak to your parents first, and give them a piece of my mind! This is just unacceptable." She continued, causing the boys to look at each other worriedly.

Roy turned back to his mom, shaking his head and mouthing; 'Alcoholics' until she sighed and said;

"Well then, Im going to leave you boys here for a while, so behave. Im going to go home and keep an eye on your brothers, Ill be back in about an hour, how does that sound?"

The boys both nodded without a word until she left.

Roy breathed out a sigh of relief, collapsing into the nearest chair.

"I told you we'd get caught." He said.

"But we got out of it, didn't we?" Edward said, smirking happily. Roy nodded in response, and the room fell silent for a minute, before Ed made a small gasping noise, remembering something.

"Why..., Why did you come? I mean, how did you come? What..." He furrowed his brow, thinking the question over for a few minutes, then trying again;

"How did you know...to come?" He said silently, looking up and locking their eyes.

"I...I don't know." Roy said, looking away.

"You're lying."

"I know, am I doing a good job?" He asked hopefully, but Edward just shook his blond head. "You suck at lying. Now stop screwing around and tell me." He replied with a rather calm manner (as calm as you can get when you're Edward Elric).

"I...I really don't know." Roy said again, looking down at his hands. "It was like...this feeling that I had."

"You ran over two kilometers on a feeling." Ed said with a '-.-' look on his face.

"Okay, Fine. It was more like...this sense. Like subliminal messages or something, I can't explain it. I knew I had to help you."

"Roy." Edward said, a very blank look on his face as he hardly payed attention to what Roy was saying anymore.

"Mm?"

"Why is there blood on your sleeve." He said, pointing and saying it more like a statement than a question.

Roy looked down, then immediately tried to wipe it off, or hide it, or anything to get rid of it. But dried blood is a lot more stubborn than dirt is, so he was unsuccessful.

"Roy!" Edward commanded, making said person jump a little in his seat.

"I dunno, maybe it came off of your clothes when I carried you here!"

"I was on your back, idiot! Give me that." He grabbed Roy's arm and pushed up the sleeve, seeing raw, red marks and a small gouge across his wrists.

"Roy." He said again, seemingly one of the only words in his vocabulary today. He pulled one of the bandages from his own wrists, revealing an almost identical mark where he'd been pinned by the teacher against the chalkboard. His wrists had started bleeding when he tried to turn them and perform alchemy.

"It was just a feeling." Ed said again, meaning for it to be a question, but just got that same blank, monotone sound in his voice. Roy retrieved his arm angrily.

"I don't know why it did that, so don't think it was me! I had nothing to do with it, so don't get any bogus ideas!" He growled, crossing his arms.

"Yes, it was.

_It's your fault_." He whispered the last part, leaning back on the bed, the white sheets crinkling at the movment.  
"Ed..." Roy leaned forward, feeling a sudden guilt trip from snapping at the golden-eyed boy, and seeing the moisture building up inside of them.

"Edward..." He said again, softer and quieter, as he saw tears had started bubbling from his eyes.

"I didn't-"  
"_Shut up!"_ The younger of the two yelled, the tears coming loose and streaming down his eyes. "Shut up..._this is your fault. _You shouldn't have saved me! You should have ran when I told you to! Now..._Now..."_ He trailed off in his sentence, breaking into small sobs, and causing Roy to jump from his seat and embrace the boy warmly. He stroked his blond hair softly, calling his name.

"_Edward...Edward, what's wrong? What are you talking about? What have I done? What_?" He whispered softly, nervous as it was that Ed would actually break down crying in _front_ of him. That was _really_ bad.

"Edward, come on...talk. Talk to me." He held him at an arms length, gripping his shoulders comfortingly.

"Tell me what's wrong." He said again.

"_Baka_..." Ed mumbled, sniffing. "It's your fault you're getting hurt. You and that stupid blood seal. I should destroy it." He said, more to himself than anyone.

"But Edo...If you do, you'll disappear!" Roy pleaded, pulling him into a tight hug.

"I'd rather have that than sit and watch you get hurt because of me." He sniffed again, regaining some composure.

"What are you talking about? Explain to me..." Roy said, placing a small kiss on Edward's head.

"Haven't you learned anything since I've been teaching you? What does the bloodseal do?" He said, looking up at Roy.

"Keeps your soul in this world." He answered obediently, as if they were studying in the attic.

"Right, and why can people see me now?"

Roy remained silent.

Edward sighed. "They can see me, because when my bloodseal was destroyed, you used some of _your_ blood to keep me here, too. But since you are still alive, it gives me the privaliges of a body as well."  
"You never told me that!" Roy interrupted, extremely shocked.

"Oh, I haven't? Heh...cough So anyway. What I was saying was; Since It's partly your blood keeping me here, when Im injured or killed, the bloodseal is going to want to take you with it. To get rid of anything in the way of me going to where I should be."

"And wheres that?"  
Edward just smiled bitterly. "That's another story, one not meant for telling in a place like this." He said, looking around the room.

"So you mean, If...If you die, Im going to die, too?" Roy asked, fear tinging his voice.

Edward nodded sullenly.

"And, what if I die?" He asked, his grip on Edward tightening.

Ed frowned.

"Ill probably pass on..."

Roy's expression matched that of the blond's. There was silence for a minute, and then;

"Don't think about that, now. Are you hurt badly?" Ed asked, leaning against Roy's chest, enjoying the comfort and warmth.

Roy shook his head. "Not as bad as you." He looped his arms around Ed's waist, sitting there for a minute, burrowing his face in his hair.

_He loved this boy, he truely did._

He loved that hair, the color of ripe corn, silky to the touch. Those eyes, so big and shiny and bright. They held every emotion the human body could posses, sometimes all at once, sometimes nothing. He loved his overall figure, his small body, how it seemed to require protection. So small and fragile, much as the owner would hate to admit it. He loved how he always smelled like freshly baked cookies, that was a fact he'd never forget, and that cookie smell. That was the best he could do to describe it, and he wondered if it was from when his mother was alive. Had she baked cookies, sometimes? Had that smell been preserved from that? Roy couldn't bring himself to ask. Yes, homebaked cookies, that was the Edward Elric smell. He'd never told him he smelled like that before, it would probably kill his pride.

Edward cuddled up inside Roy's encompassing arms, feeling drowsy from the painkillers. He could hear Roy's heartbeat thumping inside his chest. So soft and soothing, _thump thump thump_. He loved that sound, to know that someone who lived on this earth cared enough about him to go through all this. To want to know his problems, to want to help. It was a wonderful feeling. That one person, out of the six billion people that walked this earth, loved him more than anything. It was wonderful, that's for sure. And his smell. Coconut and porridge, or something like that. He couldn't really tell. He'd never say it out loud, it would kill his pride. He was so warm and comfortable, he couldn't keep his drooping eyelids from hiding the rest of his sight and slowly slipping into sleep.

Roy looked down at the sleeping blond, smiling to himself. He laid him back down on the bed, pulling the sheets up to Ed's chin. He looked positively _adorable _when he slept (at least, when Roy could actually see his face, rather than the Blanket/Edward chimera). He somewhat resembled one of those little blond angels in the pictures all

over his grandmothers house. They were quite popular with old people for some reason, blond angels. They always had the finest of white wings that curled up around them while they slept. That was what he looked like right now. _Perfect._ Roy nearly killed himself for not having a camera. Now he was just being like Hughes.

Roy's eyes snapped up, brows furrowed, a frown tugging his mouth.

Who was it of him to talk about that?

He nearly slapped himself across the face, and clenched his fists until his nails dug into his hands.

He felt his eyes getting moist, but he blinked his eyes rapidly. There was no way this was going to happen. Not now, not ever. There were some things in this world meant

to be forgotten, and that was one of them. This was not the time to be starting that again.

_Never again..._

Roy tucked the sheets on Edwards bed underneath the bedframe and shut the light off, leaving the room with one last glance, before heading out into the cold autumn night.

**-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

Omfg. Yay fluffiness, sorry it was so short. I might not update for about a week, but if I do, It'll be double this at least, that's a promise. Sorry for the shortness, again. Got some fluff in there anyway, Ill probably put a lot more of that in from now on. I don't have enough time for a grammar check, so sorry if I used wrong words, or repeated something, or whatever. Im crammed for time, so until next time...REVIEW!!!


	16. The Memories

**Omfg I am sooo sorry! I copy and pasted something down there and i guess i didn't save the work DX One of the lines repeated, i can't believe myself! Sorry to you people who thought I added a new chapter already, I got u all stoked for nothing, but I just can't stand leaving something like that, so i fixed it and reposted...**

**Chapter 16: The Memories**

Roy walked silently through the park, the swift November winds played with his dark bangs as he continued walking aimlessly. The trees blew around him, but not too harshly, or even in a spooky way. They showed no emotion whatsoever, just gave the silent, hollow impression that was of the same composure as Roy himself. He felt relieved in a way he knew he shouldn't. So many things were happening, not many of them good. So quickly and swiftly, like the wind itself. But with so many worries, he found that once he reached a certain amount, everything just stopped, dropped, disappeared. He could honestly tell you at this moment that he had no worries of the following day, no regrets from the past, and no anxiety of the present.

Just thoughts.

Just thoughts of him.

"Hughes...Why?" He asked the the starry night. He really did love the stars. Even here in town you could see the stars perfectly, all of them. But he got no reply to his answer, to his quiet, anxious-less mourning, except the gentle sensation of something cold on his face. He opened his eyes and looked around the park at the small crystallites falling from the sky. Snow.

Snow?

In all his life, Roy had never seen snow in November. Then again, the slight amount of snow he saw every year could hardly be called snow at all. Even so, he continued looking around him, just looking.

_'Stupid kid, What are you doing, trying to drown yourself in a fountain?'_

Roy smiled. Yes, the park did look something like this after all. He slowly walked over to sit on the wooden bench, the cold having no affect on him.

_'What the hell where you doin'? Whats your name, anyway? Are you cold? Take my jacket.'_

Roy sighed, holding out his hands, staring at the snowflakes that fell on them.

_'You know, they say that no two snowflakes are alike. I think thats silly, because how would they be able to check all the snowflakes? Look at them all!'_

Roy pulled his hands back, putting them in his pockets and looking up to one of the trees.

_'Come home with me, My mom will make us hot chocolate. D'you even talk? You haven't said a word since your name, Mustang.'_

Roy continued smiling, hearing the child's voice echoing in his ear.

_'You mean you don't have any other friends? Uh...Well, no me either, but...You wanna come over again tomorrow? My mom can make some homemade chocolate chip cookies! Great!'_

Roy could even see his goofy smile, those peculiar hand motions he always made. Even the glasses, how they fogged up in the winter, sometimes he'd walk into polls.

_'Hey, don't make fun of me! It is not because I talk too much! By the way, D'you have a phone number, Roy?'_

Roy actually laughed out loud. Worst mistake he'd ever made. Or best- it was hard to tell, sometimes.

_'Hey, cool! That's the same school I go to! I've never seen you around before. Must be because you're so quiet.'_

How Edward would laugh if he'd heard that.

_'See her? Her names Gracia. Don't tell anyone, but im thinking about asking her to the dance.'_

Gracia had come to the funeral, he'd be so happy about that.

Roy's smile faded. He promised himself he wouldn't think about this. He'd better get back to the hospital before his mother arrived to pick them up.

Roy stood up, heading back in the direction he came from, staring up into the sky at the snowflakes.

_No two alike. Yes. There was definitely no one like you, Hughes..._

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

Edward awoke in the hospital bed, his eyes weary from the light colored walls. Why did hospitals have to be white? He hated it. He hated them, hated how they always smelled like disinfectants and medicine, hated the preppy little nurses, and hated the needles.

Needles.

Ed visibly shuddered. He turned to look at the clock, wondering what happened before he fell asleep.

"You actually woke up by yourself for a change, I never thought that would happen."

Edward started at the voice, but realized it was the stupidest thing he could possibly be afraid of.

He just shrugged, sitting up in the bed, the sheets crinkling underneath him. His head swam for a moment, and those damned white lights wouldn't get out of the way of his eyesight.

"You okay?" Roy asked again, walking over to the bedside.

"Mm." Edward hardly listened to the question.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked again, sitting down in the chair and crossing his legs. Edward nodded.

"Do you wanna go for a walk around the park?" Roy said nonchalantly, playing with one of his bangs.

Edward gave him a strange look.

"Your mom's going to be here soon, though."

"Oh. That's okay, they'll probably know where to find us. Besides, we'll be back soon anyway..." He said, brushing his bangs off to one side and glancing up at Ed.

Edward's grip on the sheets tightened, and he pulled them up closer to him- for what reason, he wasn't exactly sure.

"N-No, Really, it's okay. Im not feeling up to it." He stammered, his knuckles turning white. He could hear his heart thrumming in his chest.

Roy stood up and leanton the bars on the side of the hospital bed, smoothly and silently, more like a shadow than anything else. He cocked his head, a pout forming on his lips.

"Please, Edo? Won't you do it for _me_?" He asked, leaning over so Edward could feel his breath on his neck. Ed nearly choked, but kept still.

_What was he going to do? He couldn't...not now! Dammit, what was he going to do?_

Roy leaned over further, trapping Edward's lips in a passionate kiss.

Edward closed his eyes, making no signs of resistance, but not responding in any way at all. Roy's hand touched the side of Edward's face, brushing his yellow bangs out of the way.

_It's not right! I can't do it!_

Roy pulled back for a second, stepping over the bars and sitting on the bed directly in front of Edward.

"R-Roy-" He was silenced with a long finger touching his lips, which was soon replaced by those of the dark-haired boy once again. His hands strayed down along both of Edwards arms, gently grabbing his wrists and pushing him backward onto the bed.

Ed fidgeted, officially panicking and searching for a way the hell out of this.

Roy straddled Edward's hips, holding his wrists above his head, never ceasing kissing him.

_'Roy doesn't kiss like that' _Was the only answer he pulled from his mind, as the taller boy removed his shirt. (A//N Squeal you little fangirls, squeal.)

"Dammit! That's it!!" He shouted, swinging a fist at the person above him. Only- the hand that caught his fist was no longer the soft, warm hand of Roy Mustang. The hand was paler, colder, tarnished and callused. The long fingers curled around his hand and forced it backward.

"Enjoying yourself, _Chibi-san_?" Asked a smooth, cold voice that matched the hand in a vague way.

"W-What the hell do you want, Envy?" Edward demanded, swinging another fist at him.

Envy tisked, catching his hand by the wrist. "I wouldn't be rushing into anything if I were you, I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve this time, _Chibi_." He said, putting his other hand flat across Edward's bare chest.

"Fuck y-" Ed's voice broke off into a gasp of pain as his flesh seared underneath the touch of the homunculus.

"W-What the hell is this!?" He gasped, clawing at Envy's arm, trying desperately to free himself of the feeling of pure pain from his touch. It spread throughout his body like a virus, this feeling of raw pain. It made his breathing ragged, he couldn't think clearly, it consumed him, overwhealmed him.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but found there seemed to be no air in his lungs. There was a piercing pain, it was unbearable! Like someone had taken a knife to paralized lungs, that was the word- paralized. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Every bit of energy was being removed from his body, sucked out of him, until he could see bright lights in front of his eyes. He needed air, needed it, or something bad was going to happen. Something terrible.

He tried to scream, tried to make some sound, or sign- scream for help, scream for mercy, scream for Roy...

Roy.

How many times would he have to be saved by Roy? Wasn't he supposed to be protecting him from these creatures? Wasn't he? This couldn't keep happening, it couldn't. And Edward couldn't die, either. Couldn't. If he did, what would happen to Roy? Who would be his friend? Who would help him? Who would protect him? Teach him? Certainly no one else loved Roy as much as he. No one would be there for him. No, He wasn't going to die. He couldn't.

Edward slowly clenched his fists together, he would get out of this, dammit. He would.

"Sorry, Jackass..." He growled, causing Envy's smirk to disappear. "But I've had enough of your shit to last a lifetime, and I have a ride coming in a few minutes." He hit Envy across the face, who didn't have enough time to recover from shock.

_He shouldn't be moving. He should be dead!!_

But his victory didn't last long, as the miniskirt-wearing homunculus recovered quickly and raised a hand, ready to bring it down and probably break his jaw, by the looks of it. Edward flinched, he couldn't do anything else, he didn't have enough time, enough energy. He waited for the punch that would probably knock him out, maybe even kill him- but it never came.

The door to the small room slammed open, revealing a panting, extremely pissed off Roy Mustang.

Envy paused, turning to look at the intruder.

"Ah, So pony-boy has come to join us." He said, sliding off the hospital bed as if nothing important was happening. He got a look of confusion in return.

"Mustang...?" He said, sighing.

"_Dipshit..._Anyway," He carried on as if he were talking about the weather, "So how long are you going to keep this up, eh? Coming over to save blondie every time he gets into trouble, I mean." He motioned backwards with his thumb to the Elric behind him.

"As long as it takes for me to kill you." Roy replied calmly, slowly walking towards the homonculus, who sighed again.

"Oh believe me, that isn't happening anytime soon." He said with a smile.

"Oh really..." Roy said, rushing forward and swinging a hand at Envy, who instantly began to change shape. He grew taller, his hair drew in, features morphed into a dark-haired, spectacled, grinning imitation of...

"H-Hughes..." He stopped, standing stalk-still and staring in shock and somewhat horror.

"Y-You..." He felt his knees growing weak, the thrum of his heartbeat rise. He could hear Ed talking in the distance, possibly yelling, but he couldn't tell. He was trapped, he couldn't move.

"Could you hit _me?"_ The faux-Hughes asked, putting on that same look he always gave him. But something was different, there was malice in his eyes. It wasn't Hughes...it was something else.

There was a noise at the door. The white fizzing light went off again, but Envy was gone before he actually saw his face. And he could hear his voice, coming from the room as if it had been shadows speaking themselves;

"I'll be back, you can count on that..._O'Chibi-san."_

Roy's parents opened the door.

"Roy, sweetie are you okay? You're white as a sheet!" His mother called to him.

He just nodded his head numbly.

They were back to square one.

Back to, No matter what else happened after this,

This was not good...

Definitely not good...

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

I didn't realize how short it was until I spell-checked it, im sorry. I really suck. This is why im failing, I don't have what I promised and it's a day late XP Eep! My math grade went up another point so im one step closer to running around the highway dressed as Edward Elric on a saturday!

Hope you liked the little bit I gave you, but I've been working on that Christmas fic, and another X-mas one, plus two no wait, three other fanfics i havn't released yet. You will be showered in fandom and fluff soon, it's all worth it! only if you REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!grhrhrhrhrrhrhrcoughcough (OMFG I swear to god i posted this yesterday, and i turned the computer on this morning and I was like, 'omfg no new reviews? I just updated!' and now im extremely confused and begging forgiveness...)


	17. The Secret

**cries I can't believe it! I've done it again:'( Im such a terrible author, I don't know what I keep doing! But i've fixed the dreadful Ctrl + C glitch, and I swear ill shoot myself if i do it again...**

**Chapter 17: The Secret**

Roy Mustang leaned against the window, staring as snowflakes slowly began to turn into rain, pounding on the roof of the car. The weather was definitely strange here. The sky was already bordering on thunder storm, when it had been snowing gently just a half an hour ago. His father was driving at an amazing 10 miles an hour so as not to go off the side of the road, as it was sheeted in water and thin layers of ice. The wipers were on full-speed, squeaking as they made their way across the windshield, boring into his thoughts. But the weather was the last thing on his mind.

That creature- _homunculus_ Edward called it- was back. And how did he know about Hughes? He _couldn't._ That was _impossible._ That was something Roy had left behind him a long time ago, and had hoped never to have to face it again. But that homunculus...he must have to know what the person looked like before he transformed, he couldn't just do that. But how could he have found out? And...what had he done to Ed?

Roy looked down beside him, Edward had fallen asleep leaning against his shoulder, and it took much self-restraint on his part to leave him as he was. After all, his parents _were_ in the car.

Envy had nearly killed him so easily. How? Damnit...He wasn't going to let this happen again, no way. He took Ed's hand in his own, low enough that his parent's couldn't see even if they did look back. Hm, what would his parents say? If they found out...

Roy sighed and continued staring out the window, he thought he saw lightning flash somewhere in the distance. He leant his head on the arm rest and let himself drift off into a dreamless sleep until they reached home.

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Roy awoke as the car came to a halt in their driveway, which he could now barely see through the water-stained windows. He could see a few of the lights on, as it was nearly pitch black despite all the stars, and heard his father open up the door in the back of the car.

He turned around, halting him in waking Ed from his comatose state.

"You won't be able to wake him up, anyway." He said. "Here," Roy unfastened his seatbelt and then Edward's, taking him in his arms carefully and scooting out of the car. He walked up the cast-iron staircase to the small porch, staring at the blond in his arms. The rain slid gently down his face, and he frowned in his sleep, snuggling closer to his only source of warmth.

Ed's eyes opened just as Roy's mother unlocked the door for them, but he stayed quiet as Roy carried him up to the attic and placed him down on the blankets. Roy stood up again and began walking down the stairs to his room, thunder crashed in the background.

"Roy..." Ed said quickly, sitting up from the floor, making Roy pause and look up from the stairs.

"Yes?" He asked, somewhat confusion in his black eyes.

"G-Goodnight." Ed said, laying back down and pulling the blankets over his head. Roy smiled in response.

"Goodnight." He said, turning off the light and quietly walking back downstairs. He went into his room and pulled off his clothes until he was left in his boxers, getting into his bed and staring, sleepless, at the ceiling.

Why did everything always happen to him? Ah well. He couldn't say his life was boring.

He rolled over and looked out the window, the storm picked up somewhat, the wind beating against the house, luring him into a light doze as he thought of the previous events.

And somewhere in the house, shadows stirred.

A dark figure inched itself along the walls, silent as the darkness itself, creeping down the stairways, searching. It paused a moment, eyes narrowing, looking for any source of life. A blinding lightning bolt flashed outside the window, but the being in the shadows had disappeared. It continued down the hallway, speeding up as it got closer to a doorframe. It quietly pushed the door in, creaking it open and looking at the figure sleeping in the bed, his dark hair covering his face, breathing shallowly. The shadowed being drew back quickly, staring at the doorframe but making no move.

Ed sighed.

"This is stupid." He said to himself, turning around and starting towards the staircase again. "Besides, theres no point in waking him up, anyway." Just then, Roy sat up in bed, peering cautiously at the doorway.

Edward froze.

"Who's there?" Roy called from his room.

_Damnit!_ Ed cursed mentally.

He'd just leave...pretend he never left his room...that sounded like a good idea.

Thunder crashed.

"It's me!" He said, sticking his head inside the doorframe, smiling nervously. Roy got out of bed, standing in the middle of the room, staring at the intruder.

"What are you doing?" He asked, sleepiness lacing his voice.

"Well...uh, You know, I was...I...was...going to the bathroom! B-but I...got lost in the dark...so..." He stuttered, making feeble hand motions and sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone. After a few minutes of strange looks and more rambling, the sky lit up a brilliant purple and a large crash of thunder surrounded the house, sending Edward under the covers of Roy's bed.

Roy blinked stupidly, still catching on to the swift motion. He turned around and looked at the little lump under the sheets, failing miserably to contain his laughter.

"You...You're afraid of thunder, aren't you!?" He clasped his side as he continued laughing at the terrified blond covered in the mass of bedsheets. His laughter came to a sudden halt when Edward emerged from the sheets, his face full of rejection, anger, fear, and misery as he slowly crawled from the bed and began tramping back to the door. He frowned and crossed his arms, flinching terribly when a small bolt of lightning hit in the distance.

"_Whats wrong with me. I've done it a hundred times before. I always got over it before. I don't need you. I don't..." _He muttered pathetically, reaching for the doorknob.

"E-Edward, wait-!" Roy put his hand on top of Ed's, stopping him from opening the door.

"Im sorry...I didn't mean to make fun of you."

Edward's hand was shaking as he continued talking to himself quietly.

_"I have. I've done it hundreds of times. They keep coming back. I can get over it by myself. I always did. There used to be that closet in moms room. I used to hide in there. That always worked. Or maybe Alphonse's bed is still where it is. I can fit under there, too."_

Roy gasped silently.

"You...You've had to stay in this house by yourself for nearly 80 years...and, you hide in the closet?" He asked, staring down at the blond.

"Where else would I go?" He replied. "Even when mom was alive, she was always asleep, I couldn't wake her. And I'd never ask Alphonse for help, I couldn't let him know that I was afraid..."

"You mean...you've always been alone in storms?" Roy continued. Edward nodded. The lightning flashed again, and Roy sprung forward and clutched Edward to his bare chest, his eyes gathering moisture.

"The attic..." Ed carried on, "I was stuck in the attic for about 40 years, it...it shifts. The house is ancient, and it's four stories high! You...You can actually feel the attic moving under your feet. Swaying back and fourth_. It's so scary..." _He grabbed Roy's waist, holding onto him like his life depended on it.

_"You poor thing..." _Roy whispered. He took Ed over to his bed, never letting him go, and at the little lump under the sheets, failing miserably to contain his laughter.

"You...You're afraid of thunder, aren't you!?" He clasped his side as he continued laughing at the terrified blond covered in the mass of bedsheets. His laughter came to a sudden halt when Edward emerged from the sheets, his face full of rejection, anger, fear, and misery as he slowly crawled from the bed and began tramping back to the door. He frowned and crossed his arms, flinching terribly when a small bolt of lightning hit in the distance.

"Whats wrong with me. I've done it a hundred times before. I always got over it before. I don't need you. I don't..." He muttered pathetically, reaching for the doorknob.

"E-Edward, wait-!" Roy put his hand on top of Ed's, stopping him from opening the door.

"Im sorry...I didn't mean to make fun of you."

Edward's hand was shaking as he continued talking to himself quietly.

"I have. I've done it hundreds of times. They keep coming back. I can get over it by myself. I always did. There used to be that closet in moms room. I used to hide in there. That always worked. Or maybe Alphonse's bed is still where it is. I can fit under there, too."

Roy gasped silently.

"You...You've had to stay in this house by yourself for nearly 80 years...and, you hide in the closet?" He asked, staring down at the blond.

"Where else would I go?" He replied. "Even when mom was alive, she was always asleep, I couldn't wake her. And I'd never ask Alphonse for help, I couldn't let him know that I was afraid..."

"You mean...you've always been alone in storms?" Roy continued. Edward nodded. The lightning flashed again, and Roy sprung forward and clutched Edward to his bare chest, his eyes gathering moisture.

"The attic..." Ed carried on, "I was stuck in the attic for about 40 years, it...it shifts. The house is ancient, and it's four stories high! You...You can actually feel the attic moving under your feet. Swaying back and fourth. It's so scary..." He grabbed Roy's waist, holding onto him like his life depended on it.

"You poor thing..." Roy whispered. He took Ed over to his bed, never letting him go, and staightened out the covers, putting him down gently. He pulled the sheets up over Edward, getting in the bed himself.

"Look," he said, turning on his side to face Ed. "You're not alone anymore." He pointed out. Edward looked up at him in sheer admiration for a minute, before another round of thunder fired up outside the house. He flinched, ducking under the covers quickly.

Roy wrapped his arms around Ed, pulling his (small) frame against him and stroking his head softly. Edward sank into him, the motion more soothing than anything else at the moment. His mother used to stroke his head sometimes. Usually when he'd done something bad. But that wasn't the point.

Roy slowly raked his hands through the others braid, undoing the tie at the bottom and letting his hair fall out onto the pillow. He smiled to himself, still combing Edward's hair with his fingers. He could smell homebaked cookies again...it was wonderful. He wanted to stay like this forever, with Ed. Roy looked down into his lovers eyes, and they just lay there for a long time, the thunder and lightning forgotten as they thought of nothing but one another.

Edward fell into a deep sleep, no longer caring what happened, just happy to be with Roy. Right now, Roy Mustang was the only person in the world Edward trusted. His only friend. But he felt more protected just being in his presence than he would with a hundred armies surrounding him. He hadn't been this happy in a long time, and he used that to his advantage.

Roy leaned down, placing a kiss on Edward's cheek, smiling. His cheeks were the one thing that gave away his age. They rounded in just the right spot to give him that baby-ish look that Ed himself so despised. Roy thought they were the cutest part about him. Though he would never tell, as he did value his face in the arrangement it was. He cupped the boy's face in his hand, brushing against it with his thumb and making sure not to wake him. He found himself smiling once again, sighing softly as he let the steady pounding of rain lull him to sleep.

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Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Whazzit...?"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Roy! Get up for school! Are you awake? Im coming in!"

Roy sighed and rolled over, reality hitting him when he realized just what, or who he was holding in his arms.

"Ah!" He made a choking noise, not knowing what to do. "Im up! You don't need to come in!" He shouted, but it was too late, his mother was already opening the door.

Roy looked around frantically, before hissing 'Get up!' At Edward, and resulting in pushing him off the bed and underneath it.

"Are you up yet?" His mother opened the door, giving him a questioning look. "What are you doing?"

"Uh...Getting ready for school."

"Okay, Im going to go wake up your friend."

"No-!" Roy shouted, shifting his feet when his mother looked up at him. "I mean, Ill wake him up." He said, giving a small sigh in relief.

"Oh. Okay." She said, shrugging and trudging back down the hallway in her slippers to get the rest of his brothers up.

Roy collapsed on his bed, receiving a (very) tiny 'ow.' in response.

"Yeah, get up." He said, raising his leg and slamming it down on the mattress. Edward rolled out from underneath immediately and muttered something incoherent.

"What was that?"

"I don't know." Ed replied in a half-hearted answer with no tone.

"Why not?"

"My brain...is off." Ed finished the sentence with difficulty, forgetting how he started it for a second. Roy growled in annoyance and gave up, looking for something to wear.

"Ed, do you know where my shirt..." He turned around, sighing. "Edward." He spoke with the tone of an annoyed mother.

"Give me my shirt back." He stuck out a hand, but Ed just grinned and shook his head.

"I much prefer the view like this, thanks..."

"I thought your brain was off." Roy continued, now trying to find his pants. Edward snickered uncontrollably.

"You turn me on." He broke out into an immature laugh, though Roy couldn't help but smirk. He stepped forward and snatched his shirt from Ed, leaving to go take a shower.

"Noooo!" As soon as Roy left the room, Edward was left to his usual 0.1KB of memory space that occupied his brain in the morning.

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Roy walked into the room, unsuspecting of the hyper blond that glomped him as soon as he entered the doorway.

"You smell good..." Ed said, clinging to Roy as he inched his way towards his backpack.

"Are you on crack?" He replied bluntly. Edward was usually very strange in the mornings, but today he was acting different.

Ed shrugged in return.

Roy sighed. "Come on, let's get to school." He said, prying the younger off of him and heading out the door.

They were graced that day with not being tormented on the bus, the students had finally moved on to another target, leaving them to blend in with the rest of the crowd.

Little did they know that today was not going to be good.

Not good at all...


	18. The Mistake

**CHAPTER 18: The Mistake**

The day passed slower than usual, overly boring every period, as all they had to do was copy notes and read. Though everything seemed to be going well...until Gym class.

"Alright, pair yourselves into two teams!" Bennet's voice rung out through the gymnasium, the large space making him sound even louder than usual.

Roy groaned as he saw Mr. Bennet pull bags of basketballs and vollyballs out from the storage room.

"Only that whack-job would make us play dodgeball with basketballs." He mumbled to no one in particular.

Edward however, seemed almost...happy.

"Cheer up, Just dodge them and you won't get hurt!" He smiled happily, picking up a vollyball as the teacher blew the whistle.

Roy sighed, as it seemed the entire opposing team was throwing specifically at _him. _Though it usually seemed that way any other time he played dodgeball, as well. He was never overly good at the sport (if it could be called one) and he would have much rather preferred they start working on floor hockey. But, that wasn't the case.

"Duck!"

Roy did as he was told, not really caring who spoke, just obeying the random commands. It wasn't long before he was out, so he sauntered over to the benches at the side of the gym to continue watching Edward (which was what he was doing in the first place, hence why he was out.)

It wasn't surprising for anyone there to see how well Ed was doing, considering his small stature and fast legs. But it wasn't the game Edward was watching anymore.

"Hey, your name's Roy, right?" A cheery brunette girl asked as she sat next to him on the bench.

"Hm? Yeah." He answered, still watching the floor.

"So, I hear you're new here..." She said in an extremely high-pitched voice, shifting ever-so-slightly towards him. Roy smirked, looking up at her for the first time. He'd had quite the reputation as a lady's-man at his old school, but this was the first time a girl had been brave enough to talk to him at this one.

"That's right, I just moved here from Xing." The smirk grew on his face as he turned and leaned an arm on the wall parallel to his head. "But I have to say...the girls here are _much_ prettier."

He contained a laugh as the girl's face lit up an amusing shade of red. To be honest, he had no interest in girls like her. He preferred them...smaller. Blond. With a short temper and a terrible morning person. Why he led her on, he wasn't exactly sure. It was just something he'd adapted to after so many girls had come squealing.

"So...uh...d-do you have a girlfriend?" She continued on, though Roy was hardly paying attention. He thought for a minute and replied;

"Girlfriend? No."

Her mouth formed an 'o' as he spoke, but she didn't notice the way he'd said it.

"Well...um...I was wondering...m-maybe, if you wanted to..."

"Yes?"

He didn't expect what happened next, therefore his brain had no time to react. Her mouth was already too close to his, all he could do was open his eyes in shock. And by the time he'd moved away, their lips had already connected in a small, meaningless kiss. Roy shook his head and pushed her away gently.

"Im sorry, I really am. I shouldn't have lead you on, but I already have someone important to me." He glanced at the dodgeball game to reassure his statement, but his face blanched when he realized that...Edward was gone.

He could feel the air leave his lungs, but fought desperately for some voice of reasoning. He could be in the locker-rooms, or getting a drink or...or...something! His disappearance had nothing to do with what just happened...right?

"What? I thought you just-"

Roy didn't hear her finish her sentence, he was already running towards the door. He heard no shouts of protest from Mr. Bennet behind him, but he doubted he would stop even if he was told. There was only one thing fixed in his mind at the moment, a word that he could not manage to pass through his lips.

_Edward._

He ran through the entire school, checked every bathroom and hallway, straight out the front door to the school, but he caught not one glimpse of red or gold.

_Edward..._

He searched the roads by the school franticly, trying to figure out what to do.

There were some things that could wait until after school...this was not one of them.

Roy turned and ran back into the school, finding the office for once in his goddamn life.

"I need to sign out, please." He told the secretary, who looked at him and handed over a sheet.

"Not feeling well? You look pale."

Roy nodded and scribbled his name down on the sheet, along with the time.

"Thanks!" He said, hurrying out the door before she could say anything else.

Roy ran straight out to the edge of the property, looking in both directions and trying to remember which way was home. He hardly payed attention to where the bus was going, and felt like hitting himself for it. But there was no time for that, he'd beat himself up later. Now he had to find Edward.

He turned right, running as fast as his legs would carry him. His house wasn't actually that far away from the school, it was only because the bus had so many stops that took it so long to get there. He hoped.

Before long, a single tree came into view. Though he was somewhat releived, he couldn't say it helped the ball of panic in his throat.

_Please, Edward...please be there..._Roy thought, suddenly finding a new energy boost as he nearly collided with the thick trunk of the tree. He searched around it franticly, but saw that the door wasn't where it was before. He fought down the urge to scream, but instead an idea came to him.

He rapped on the trunk heavily, and all he recieved was a dull, hollow sound in response. That's all he needed.

He searched around the ground quickly before picking up a sharp rock, and scribbling something on the tree. He took a deep breath, trying to remember everything he'd been taught at once. He clapped his hands together and placed them firmly down onto the tree trunk.

A bright light emitted, and that's when he found out that things couldn't possibly get worse. Until he saw the black figure land behind him.

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-Screams- I can't believe it! It took me that long to get that down on wordpad, and took you guys like, less than thirty seconds to read it! -head/desk- Please, Please, Please forgive the sheer SUCKINESS of this piece of CRAP I call a CHAPTER!!! I promise Ill make it up to you guys, Im sticking in lemony action sometime soon! Promise. I just wanted to get this out there and off of my back, because it's really pissing me off at the moment. The next chapter will be three, almost four times as big as this one, just please keep reading! I don't even know if people have been reading my stuff, because i've been getting NO REVIEWS! Did you guys get sick of it and stop reading? Or should I just end the whole fic?


	19. The Complications

**19: The Complications**

The first thing that hit Roy's eardrums was the sounds of Ed screaming, the second was the maniacal laughing...

"Ah, So chibi-san's koi can do alchemy now, ne?" Roy turned around, face point blank to that of the homonculus known as Envy. He felt every speck of color drain from his face. He immediately took a step backward, but Envy's body followed. He took another step back, and once again found himself cornered. He was stuck in between the tree and Envy, and officially had no way out. Envy's strong, pale hands shot out from his sides and pinned Roy's wrists to the tree.

He felt his heartrate rise, swallowing down the panic that had started rising in his throat, feeling utterly helpless and violated.

"You learn quickly," Envy started, his violet eyes boring into Roy's own, making him look away. "So you should know what I'm after already."

"The philosophers' stone." Roy said quietly and dismally.

Envy smirked.

"That's a good boy."

Roy felt like crying, his entire sense of morality had just been thrown off. Of course he had to do it, if he didn't, it was Edward who would pay. It was his fault in the first place for letting this happen. That was the guilt trip. Roy tried, more than anything, to just keep Ed safe, but it was his fault he'd ran away in the first place.

Ed growled Roy's right, making him look over. Edward's hands were bound, criss-cross, by a rope, making it impossible for him to do alchemy.

"He couldn't transmute the stone even if you forced him to, Envy. He doesn't have that kind of power!"

Envy just smirked in response, his grip on Roy's wrists never failing.

"I don't think so, _chibi."_ Envy ignored Edward's flaming reaction and held up a chain around his neck. Roy raised his hand in an attempt to free himself, but froze up when he saw what the homunculus was holding.  
Edward cursed loudly.

"How did you get that, Envy!?" He took a few steps forward, but came to a halt when the gleaming-silver dog tag was swung in front of his face.

"I snatched it while you were unconcious, baka."

"Unconcious?" Roy cut in. Envy sighed and turned to Roy.

"I honestly thought you were smarter than this..." His slick voice grew louder as he leaned down towards Roy's ears, his breath disturbing his black bangs.

"I mean, what kind of a trap would it be if my bait got away on me?" He smirked. Roy's eyes widened.

"Bait? You mean you want-"

His sentence was cut off by a gleaming white fizzle of light. His head turned, and couldn't stop the gasp that escaped from his lips.

"You! How did you find out about him? How do you even know what he looks like? TELL ME!" Roy roared, struggling to escape the grasp of the Hughes look-alike. Envy just smiled on the face of Maes, and pulled out a small pictureframe from his pocket. Roy blinked.

It was a picture of Roy and Hughes, taken just before they entered high-school. He kept it on his bedside table.

"That was in my room...!" He growled.

"Oh really, Was it? So who's this? Old friend? Or a boyfriend of yours..."

The look-alike leaned closer to Roy, nipping at his ear.

_Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew, Ew! _Was all Roy could think. _No way! With Hughes? Come on! How stupid is this guy?_

"What business of it is yours?"

_I just need to stall._

_Just long enough._

"Oh, just nice to see a familiar face, is all." At Envy's words, Roy's hand froze behind him.

"What did you say?"

"Maes Hughes...Nice fella. Too bad he had to go so quickly, Im sure we could have used him." Envy shrugged nochalantly, as if he were discussing the weather.

"What are you talking about, Envy?" Ed cut in, taking another step forward.

"Oi, watch it, Chibi!" Envy said, tightening his grip on Roy.

"You ask too many questions, Ill be sure to answer them another time. _Not."_ He teased. Just then, Roy activated the transmutation circle behind him, shooting wooden spikes from the tree trunk. Two stabbed Envy, causing him to release Roy and the picture-frame, and another neatly undid the ropes on Edward's wrists.

Ed immediately dove at Envy. Weapon or no, he was going to get the bastard. The homunculus immediately switched back to his original, more convenient form, and jumped out of the way just before Edward attacked him.

Before Ed knew what was happening, he felt a searing, white-hot pain in his side before passing out onto the ground.

"Edward-!" Roy cried, leaping forward. The homunculus smirked and jumped away, somewhere into the trees, after dropping the picture-frame in his hands with a loud smashing of glass.

Roy looked up from crouching over the unconcious blond's body to see something written on the back of the picture. He picked it up carefully and started reading.

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

Edward opened his golden eyes, blinking them rapidly in attempt to focus the images in front of him. A bedside table, a lamp, and a radio. Beyond that were familiar blue walls, and an old bookshelf. The shooting pain in his side reminded him what happened and sent him swinging up in bed.  
Roy, who was sitting on a chair to his right, promptly fell off.

"E-Edward! Are you okay? Lie down, you're going to make yourself sick." He said, rushing over to the bed.

Ed rolled his eyes.

"You're not my mother, okay? Back off."

Roy nodded his head, sitting back down on the chair and tucking something away into his pocket.

"Are you okay?"

"Define 'okay'." Edward mumbled, shifting in the bed to releive the pressure from his aching side.

"You're not going to pass out or anything..."

"Yeah, in that case, Im okay." He said with his stupid grin. But his face quickly turned serious.

"Envy didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Roy shook his head.

"But...before he left, he did something with the blood seal...it started glowing, and then the whole thing just disappeared. Then he muttered something about a traitor and ran off...Are you sure you're feeling alright?" He added, seeing how Edward had visibly paled in a short period of time, and his hands seemed to be quivering beneath the sheets.

Ed nodded, trying to shake it off.

"Im fine." He said, though his voice didn't seem so sure.

Roy sighed.

"I was really worried about you, you know..." He said awkwardly, smiling at the blush that threatened Edward's cheeks.

"Really?" He asked. Roy stood up from the chair and leaned over in the bed, kissing Ed lightly.  
"Really." He said softly, and turned toward the door.

"You should get some rest." He said, turning the lights off. However, Roy paused in the doorway before turning around and quietly saying;

"Edward..?"

Ed blinked.

"Yeah?"

Roy took a deep breath before sighing.

"Im sorry...Will you forgive me?" Edward leaned up in bed, tilting his head as he looked at Roy, his braid swinging behind him.

"For what?"

"For being such a jerk. I shouldn't have led that girl on...and I never should have given her the opportunity to kiss me. I love you, and..." He trailed off, and Edward just shook his head.

"You came after me, didn't you?"

Roy nodded.

"That's good enough for me. It means you really care. I think Im starting to understand how my mother felt." He said quietly.

Roy just nodded again silently and turned to close the door, leaving a crack open where the Mustang family could be heard downstairs.

Ed waited until the footsteps died down and shot up from the bed, darting towards a full-length mirror with a crack in the corner.

He gingerly pulled his shirt up, revealing the side of his body which had been attacked by Envy. It was definitely not one of his better ideas to run at him, but Roy was safe, and he wouldn't let it happen again.

His eyes narrowed as he viewed what was being shown to him in the mirror. The entire side of his body which Envy had touched was now a purple, welt-like transmutation pattern. He touched it lightly with his hand, and received nothing but a shot of pain down his leg and into his arm.

He frowned. This was turning out more complicated by the day. He would have to put an end to it soon, or unwanted consequences would come. Edward pulled his shirt back down and crawled into bed, worry plagueing his mind.

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

Roy trodded down the stairs quietly, then pulled out the picture from his pocket again. He turned it over and re-read the back a few times, but still nothing came to him.

"What were you trying to tell me, Hughes?" He said to himself, and looking up to the heavens as if expecting his friend to descend upon him and give him the answer to all his problems. But perhaps he was just causing more.

He twirled the photograph around in his fingers and then put it on the table when he got to the living room, pulling up a chair to stare at the words.

_Reminders- _

_Ask Gracia out to dance._

_Pass in English assignment_

_Look up 'Alchimi'_

_Buy new headphones_

_Return Soul-Calibur II before Sunday_

_Tell Roy about homunculus boy._

Roy sighed in frustration.  
"Only Maes would put something so important with a bunch of junk like that. No- Only Maes would need a _reminder_ for that!" He growled to himself, stuffing the picture back in his pocket.

Suddenly he came to a realization that made him slam his head off the table.

"He didn't tell me about it, because _I _have the reminder! Argh! I should have found it sooner than this!" He beat his head off the table once again.

"Honey, are you okay?" Came his mothers sugary-sweet voice from behind him. He sat up instantly.

"Yeah, Im fine."  
"Hows Edward feeling?" She asked, taking off her apron.

"Better."

"Okay then." She shrugged and went back into the kitchen.

Roy sighed. Edward would know about this. He'd ask him tomorrow.

But it was just as he stood up that there was a short flash of light upstairs, and Edwards loud cursing rang through the house, before complete silence.

**-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-**

-Sighs- Yes, I do realize that half of you just read that in like, thirty seconds...But I just wanted to update for you guys. This is where things start to get interesting.

Any idea who the homunculus boy is?

And about that 'end-the-fic' thing, I definitely have no second thoughts about continuing it now. Sorry for freaking you out like that, but I didn't want this to turn into one of those really long things that like, never end. So, whenever you guys think would be a good time to end it, or if you have any possible ending ideas, just tell me. PM me or something. And now, I have to go finish a project that was due two days ago ;;


	20. The Homunculus

...Okay. Usually I put the notes after the fic, but I want to make a formal apology to all my readers. (No, Im not ending the fic, for those who's heart's just stopped XD)

Im down to four more chapters or so after this one. Im sorry it took so long for me to update, but the fic was waiting for me to write a random yaoi scene for halfway through. I've decided it's taking to long, so Ill just give you the fic (finallY!) to read. Ill be posting the yaoi scene in my drabbles eventually. Again, Im sorry it took so long. Some of you might have to go back and read the fic to remember what's going on XD. Sorry, again.

Please read.

**The Homunculus**

The air escaped from Roy Mustang's lungs. He stood there, just standing in the living room for a moment. Praying to whatever gods he could think of that he didn't just hear that scream.

But he did.

He tore up the staircase before he knew what happened, slamming the door open as he reached his room.

"Edward! Are you okay? What happened?" He asked frantically, searching the room for the blond. He found him collapsed on the floor in the middle of the room, curled up in pain.

Roy felt his heart stop.

He dashed towards Ed, rolling him over onto his back and trying to see exactly what was wrong with the boy. He noticed Ed clutching his side, and instinctively bent to lift his shirt, but was stopped by a forceful hand.

"Mm, No...It's nothing, I just..." Edward's voice was quiet, and his eyes somewhat dulled as he cracked them open to look at Roy.

"Don't you dare tell me it's nothing, Edward!" The tone in his voice made Edward flinch as he picked him up and carried him back over to the bed.

"It's Envy..." Edward spoke reluctantly, watching Roy as he paused in fixing the bedsheets. "He...I...I can't do alchemy anymore, Roy." He spoke with a teary tone to his voice, as if he were to start crying any minute.

"What? Why not!?" Roy asked, putting his arms around Ed comfortingly.

"I-I don't know..." Ed spoke with fear in his voice this time, as he held onto Roy desperately. Roy frowned and gripped him tighter.

"What happened just now? What happened to you?" He asked as he reached forward to lift Edward's shirt, but was stopped one again. He looked at Edward with a hint of annoyance. Okay, a lot of annoyance.

"Edward, I just want to see whats wrong, to make sure you're not hurt."

"I told you, Im fine."

Roy furrowed his brow.

"As if. No one screams like that when nothings wrong, and NO alchemical backfires hurt for just a second. Lift up your shirt, or I will _make_ you." He said with more forcefulness in his voice than he intended, but meant it all the same.

Edward crossed his arms, looking away towards the other wall and pretending not to hear him. Roy growled in response and took a step towards Edward purposefully, leaning down and grabbing him by both his wrists.

"You might be stronger than me," He said, apparently angry with the blond, "But Im bigger than you are, and do not think that won't count towards my advantage. I don't want to hurt you, and I know you're smarter than this. Just show me what's wrong...for once." He ended on more of a begging note, but refused to admit it even to himself.

Edward said nothing for a minute, just stared back up at Roy, who had seemed to leave the decision to Ed completely. Eventually, he slowly moved a hand to his side, toying with the edge of the fabric on his black shirt, deep in thought. Roy let out a silent gasp as Edward gently lifted up the fabric, revealing a (barely) glowing transmutation pattern, and...

"E-Edward...i-is that...is that..." Edward closed his eyes gently, not wishing to make eye contact at the moment.

"The mark of the ouroborus? Hm."  
"T-Then that means..."

"It means everything it means, Roy." Edward said quietly, slipping the shirt back down over the mark.

"Then _you're_ the homunculus boy..." Roy spoke a little bit louder than he should have.

"What?"

"N-Nothing." Roy said, shifting under the golden-eyed gaze as Edward opened his eyes again and trying to brush it off.

"But this means that you were actually a homunculus from the start...doesn't it?"

Edward shook his head.

"A homunculus was just a term for a body with out a soul, or vice versa when your friend meant it. With a soul already summoned, it was easy for the homunculi to put it back into my original body. Ghosts can't do alchemy, and that's why they needed me human. Or...as human as it gets. Im not quite sure what I really am now. A sucessfull human transmutation? An immortal human? I don't know...All I know is that there's no one else like me...And no one to understand." He trailed off, and the room slipped into a dark silence.

"So..." The taller boy said after a minute. "What are we going to do now?" He crossed his arms and took to looking around the room.

"Well..." Ed started, shifting his position on the bed to look out the window. "The day is practically over, so theres really nothing we can do but get a good night's sleep and figure everything out in the morning." Roy could hear the tiredness in the blond boy's voice as he spoke.

"Okay." He said, smiling.

Edward's eyes opened somewhat in shock as Roy pulled him to the top of the bed like it was nothing, and covered him in the blankets before slipping beneath the covers himself. Ed continued to stare at him for a moment before speaking up.

"B-But won't your mom..." Edward started.

"I locked the door. And Im supposed to be looking after you anyway, aren't I?" Roy said with a warm smile that betrayed his inner thoughts.

He was pulled out of his own mind as he felt two small arms wrap themselves around his waist, only flinching away slightly as the blond's side rubbed against the blankets.

"How long will that mark be there?" Roy asked quietly. His only reply was a soft snore.

"That's right...you should get your rest now," Roy said to no one, sighing deeply before turning on his side to face Edward better. "Because we have school tomorrow."

"Dammit."

-o-x-o-There is a time lapse here- Do not get confuzzled -.- .o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

The overall school day had been extremely tiring and just one big headache. After having to _run_ all the way to school (which is not a short distance, might I tell you) after missing the bus, the teacher decided to be a particular retard over the five minutes they had been late. They'd both gotten lunch and recess detention for not finishing their homework, and much as Roy would have loved to scream 'Well Im sorry but we were a little busy fighting off some paranormal undead phsyco's out for bloodlust and killing off the human race, bitch' right in his face, he remained quiet and sat at his desk, rotting his brain away.

By the end of the day, Edward had a nice bruise in the middle of his forehead from repeatedly bashing his face of the desk (Edward Elric could _not_ sit still for an hour with nothing to do) and Roy was close to punching a wall in. Aside from that, they had to figure out what the HELL they were going to do about the homunculi.

"Well, we can't just wait around here for another one of their attacks. We need to make the first move for once."

"But I can't use alchemy anymore!" Edward protested, trying to keep his voice low since they were on the bus.

Roy sighed.

"But I can."

Edward just frowned.

"Hardly. And I refuse to let you go alone. Murphey's Law seems to be following us, after all. I...I won't risk losing you. Not ever."

Roy nodded wordlessly, turning his gaze out the window for the rest of the ride home.

As soon as they walked in the front door, Edward took off running up the stairs, and a few minutes later, Roy heard the familiar sound of the attic door shutting.

Well...That was odd.

It had been a while since Ed had gone into the attic, after he started sleeping in Roy's room. But then again, Edward was a very odd person, and nothing could ever be predicted about what he said or did. Roy sighed and left him to do what he wanted as he slowly made his way up to his room, noticing how dreary and lonely things seemed to be without the younger at his side.

Roy's insides churned at the thought of him having done something to make Edward mad, but (as always) he hoped for the best.

And so- countless hours passed while Roy ignored his unfinished homework in the corner and instead buried his face in the many alchemy books he'd 'borrowed' from Edward's room.

Ed made no appearance from his attic for the rest of the night, and into the next day. Roy knocked on the trapdoor to the attic for the third time, after which there was a simple muffled response of

"Im not going to school today." and then silence yet again.

Roy sighed, frowning slightly, but said nothing else as he grabbed his school supplies and shoes before running out the door.

His day at school went rather terribly (even more so without Edward) as he could not think about anything except what was making his chibi act so strange. He couldn't be sick, of course...and Roy hadn't done anything to upset him...had he? Or was he not supposed to know about Edward's secret? Did he really not trust him as much as he thought?

Roy let his head fall to the desk.

"I said don't slouch!!"

o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

As soon as Roy dragged his feet up the steps and through the front door (after fishing the spare key from his pocket) he was immediately confronted with a smiling, blond-framed face that he hadn't seen in over 24 hours, and something being shoved into his hands.

He stared down at Edward like he'd lost his mind (which he might have at this point) and then opened up his hand to see what had been placed inside of it.

A pair of white, finely stitched gloves. Each with a perfect red transmutation circle printed clearly onto the back.

Roy looked up at Edward with confusion etched into his features.

"They're ignition gloves...all you have to do is snap them to make a spark...and change the oxygen content in the air to make it react as much as you want. B-But don't you get any ideas!" The smile faded slightly from Ed's face as he added the last part.

"Don't go running off thinking you can fight the homunculi or something with them...they're only for protection. Defence, since I can't do anything useful anymore. Protect yourself...when I can't." He finished sadly.

In one swift movement Roy had his arms around Edward, kissing him like he never had before. He honestly couldn't care any less about who saw them, he could take on the world right now. He'd made up his mind. He _was_ going to find the homunculi. He'd defeat them, kill Envy- send him back to wherever he came from. And then he would return Ed to a normal, human boy, and maybe they'd leave once he got his drivers liscense. All they would have was each other, and that's all they'd ever need.

Yes.

That's what he'd do.

He stepped away from Edward looked reassuringly into his eyes before turning and closing the door behind them, then walking quietly into the living room.

He hoped that for once, Murphey would be kind to him. Just once.

But it turns out that's not the way it works.

o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-x-o-

PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE PLEASE PLEEEEASE. At least review to forgive me for my sins v.v


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